* Coming Up: U.S. EIA weekly stocks report, 1430 GMT
* Coming Up: Fed policy statement at 1815 GMT (Updates prices, adds quotes and commentary)
By Julia Payne
LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Oil futures rose above $105 per barrel on Wednesday, underpinned by positive Chinese data from HSBC while investors await statements from the United States Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank on possible steps to reinject momentum into their respective economies.
Oil prices reversed early losses after data showed China's HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index rose to the highest level since February, easing concerns stoked by the official PMI figure that dropped to an eight-month low and fell short of expectations.
"The market is preparing for the Fed and ECB statements and they are expecting disappointment because the Fed is unlikely to unveil a third quantitative easing And whatever comes from the ECB is will not be enough to end the Eurozone debt crisis," said Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
"On the other hand, the Chinese PMI was not as bad as expected and President Hu commented about supporting the Chinese economy."
Brent crude rose 38 cents to $105.30 a barrel by 0950 GMT, recovering from an earlier drop to a near one-week low of $104.06.
U.S. crude firmed by 11 cents to $88.17 per barrel, up from a low of $87.51 hit earlier in the session.
With both Chinese PMI readings at around 50, a threshold dividing expansion from contraction, the surveys signal that the private and state-backed parts of China's vast factory sector are stabilising, albeit at a relatively low level of growth.
China's top leaders, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, promised to step up policy "fine tuning" in the second half of the year to support the economy, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
Investors are expected to stay on the sidelines as they wait for the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting that started on Tuesday and the ECB's meeting on Thursday. But little is expected, which is already largely priced into the market.
Slowing growth in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, had fired up hopes of stimulus measures from the Federal Reserve late last week. However, chances of this seem lower after recent supportive data, including higher home prices and improved consumer confidence.
The ECB meeting on Thursday remains a key focal point for the market which will be looking for detailed policy action to stem rising Spanish and Italian bond yields.
Germany's finance ministry on Tuesday reiterated its view that there is no need to grant a banking license to the euro zone's new bailout fund. Such a move could enable the fund to buy large amounts of debt issued by troubled euro zone economies.
U.S. OIL INVENTORIES
U.S. crude oil inventories fell 11.6 million barrels in the week ended July 27, a far bigger drop than expected, as imports fell nearly 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to the American Petroleum Institute report on Tuesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly report follows at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.
Oil prices continue to draw support from tensions between the West and Iran over the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions and the escalating conflict in Syria.
President Barack Obama announced new U.S. sanctions against foreign banks that help Iran sell its oil on Tuesday, hoping to add pressure on Tehran a day before congressional votes on new sanctions. (Reporting by Julia Payne in London and Luke Pachymuthu in Singapore, Editing by Himani Sarkar and Alison Birrane)
