By Polya Lesova
FRANFKURT (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures gained on Wednesday ahead of U.S. government data on petroleum inventories. Crude oil for September delivery rose 51 cents to $78.09 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract earlier rose to an intraday high of $78.29 a barrel. "We remain convinced that not so much the weather or inventory data but rather the events on financial markets, especially on the U.S. equity market, and the macro data will determine what happens on the oil market in the near term," said analysts at Commerzbank AG in a note to clients. "The market is now closely watching the quarterly results of U.S. companies." U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher opening on Wall Street.
