American Petroleum Institute will release data on petroleum inventories By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures traded little changed above $82 a barrel on Tuesday, as traders awaited data expected to show a rise in U.S. crude inventories. Crude oil for May delivery fell 2 cents to $82.15 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. The contract had earlier hit an intraday high of $82.75. "Currently range-bound oil prices are a result of optimism about a global economic recovery clashing with still weak oil market fundamentals," said analysts at Vienna-based JBC Energy in a note to clients. Oil prices gained nearly 3% on Monday, as the dollar weakened against the euro and investors grew more optimistic about the economic rebound. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, will report its data at 4:30 p.m. Easter on Tuesday. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release its data on Wednesday morning. Analysts polled by Platts expect an increase of 2.65 million barrels in crude inventories for the week ended March 26. They also project a decline of 2 million barrels in gasoline supplies and a drop of 1.20 million barrels in distillate stocks. The EIA reported last week that crude inventories rose by 7.3 million barrels, a much bigger increase than analysts expected. Investors are also awaiting U.S. economic data. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for January and the Conference Board's gauge of consumer confidence in March will be released later in the session.

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