* Brent up, worries about Iran, Syria sanctions support
* Investors await cues from euro zone meeting
* U.S. oil under pressure from possible downgrade (Adds Syria and comments, updates prices)
By Seng Li Peng
SINGAPORE, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Brent crude rose above $109 on Tuesday as supply worries triggered by concerns over sanctions against Iran and Syria checked initial losses, while investors kept a watch on developments in Europe for further trading cues.
All eyes are now on a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later in the day, at which they are expected to approve detailed rules for the region's 440 billion euro bailout fund that will clear the way for the facility to attract cash from private and public investors to its co-investment funds.
The euro zone's debt crisis has become the biggest threat to the global economy and a break up of the currency zone can no longer be ruled out, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Monday, slashing its forecasts and urging the ECB to play a bigger role in defusing the crisis.
"We are completely headline and rumour driven, and the last 48 hours has tossed up much talk and debate but firm details are lacking. For our market to rally we need confirmation of action," said Ben Taylor, sales trader of CMC Markets.
"Last night's run higher was as much about plans for Europe as it was for Black Fridays, healthy crowds, healthy sales results," he said in a note.
Brent crude climbed 40 cents to $109.40 by 0610 GMT, after dropping to $108.39 earlier in the day. Brent rose more than 2 percent in the previous session -- its biggest single day rise in a month.
"Oil prices coming off could be also be due to some profit taking," said Natalie Robertson of ANZ on the losses seen earlier in the session. "But I think the market tonight will be more focused on developments out of Europe and that would offset any changes in supplies."
The euro zone has already entered a mild recession but much worse could follow unless policy makers take decisive action to get ahead of the market, the OECD said. [ID:nL5E7MS1ZK
U.S. crude slipped 12 cents to $98.09 a barrel, weighed down by Fitch Ratings' revision of the U.S. credit rating outlook to negative and expectations for an increase of 1.0 million barrels in domestic crude stocks.
The ratings agency gave the United States until 2013 to come up with a credible plan to tackle its ballooning budget deficit or risk a downgrade of the country's coveted AAA rating.
SYRIA, IRAN
Sanctions against Syria and Iran over human rights violations and nuclear program, respectively, are expected to support oil prices.
"Oil prices will be supported because there are geopolitical tensions over Iran's nuclear program. That would provide a floor on prices," Robertson said.
Paris has argued that Europe should ban Iranian oil as part of Western steps to ratchet up pressure on Iran, following a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency that suggested Iran had worked on designing an atom bomb.
Diplomats say EU powerbrokers Britain and Germany support the proposal, although London is still doing an analysis of the costs. But some EU states, led by crisis-stricken Greece, have expressed concerns about the economic impact of an oil embargo.
Separately, Syria faces growing economic sanctions and condemnation over what the United Nations calls "gross human rights violations", but President Bashar al-Assad shows no sign of buckling under pressure to end his military crackdown on popular unrest.
China and Russia have oil concessions in Syria. Moscow also has a naval repair base on Syria's Mediterranean coast and announced on Monday that it was sending warships there, in an apparent display of determination to defend its interests. (Editing by Himani Sarkar)
