NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude futures fell Wednesday as an industry report raised concerns about rising U.S. oil stockpiles ahead of inventory data from the Department of Energy. Light, sweet crude for August delivery recently traded 69 cents, or 0.9%, lower at $76.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 49 cents lower at $76.16 a barrel. Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Industry reported a 1.7-million-barrel increase in oil inventories in the week ended July 9, ahead of the more influential inventory data from the Energy Information Administration, due at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Stockpiles were expected to fall by 1.2 million barrels, according to a survey conducted by Dow Jones Newswires. The EIA data in recent weeks has provided few indications of major shifts in supply or demand, leaving traders searching for insights from the equities markets about where the economy, and therefore future oil demand, are headed. However, the government data, if in line with the API's report, could indicate that supplies will continue to stay around five-year highs. "Yesterday's API data took a lot of the wind out of the market's sails," said Gene McGillian, a broker with Tradition Energy. "Everybody is going to be watching the (government report) to see if they confirm those builds, but I don't know if we're going to see a significant enough change" to move the market. A strong rally in U.S. equities Tuesday, as well as optimistic earnings reports from industrial giant Alcoa Inc. (AA) on Monday and technology bellwether Intel Corp. (INTC) late Tuesday, have moderated the drop in oil prices on Wednesday. For several weeks, crude has been stuck in a range of $70 to $80, held steady by cross-currents of economic data that refuse to provide direction to the market. U.S. stock futures point to a lower opening Wednesday. A continued equities rally could push crude higher, analysts said, perhaps out of its current range, wrote Edward Meir of MF Global in a note to clients. "We could push towards the $79.50-$80 resistance by week's end, and perhaps even take it out briefly, but we don't see markets doing too much beyond that mark, as strength in U.S. equities will be able to carry energy higher for only so long," he said. Front-month August reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently traded 1.96 cents, or 0.9%, lower at $2.0628 a gallon. August heating oil recently traded down 1.75 cents, or 0.9%, at $2.0299 a gallon. By Jerry A. DiColo, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2155; jerry.dicolo@dowjones.com.

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