London (Platts)--25Sep2009/953 am EDT/1353 GMT

Crude oil futures rebounded slightly in European morning trading Friday, with the November Brent crude contract on the IntercontinentalExchange trading as much as $0.83/b higher than Thursday's close of $64.82/b.

Most volume went through around $0.50/b higher, however, as early gains waned slightly. At 1141 GMT November Brent was up $0.57/b at $65.39/b.

The slight gains came after two days of relentless falls in the global crude complex, which has seen 8% losses to two-month lows on weak demand and financial data.

The stronger US dollar has also put pressure on prices, sources said.

The falls in crude futures began in earnest on Wednesday, when stock data from the US Energy Information Administration revealed a large build in oil stocks. The growing inventories have been taken by many as a sign of fundamentally weak demand, sources agreed.

Analysts at MF Global sounded bearish tones in their latest report to the market. "With almost $6 in losses in crude oil over the past two days, there has been a marked deterioration in many of the energy charts," the report said. "This is certainly most true in Brent's case, where trading range support at $65.96 has given way, opening up the complex to a possible retreat to $59."

The fall in crude prices has not coincided with a rebound in refining margins, which remained in the doldrums. Gasoline margins in NWE stood around $4.50/b, continuing the weak trend seen since the summer months, when a small amount of strength had returned.

--Joel Hanley, joel_hanley@platts.com