London (Platts)--9Feb2010/622 am EST/1122 GMT

Crude futures were higher during Tuesday morning trading with primary support coming from the euro-dollar trade, market sources said.

"Right now I don't see anything in terms of fundamentals that is really supporting crude," said Hudson Capital Group commodity trader Clarence Chu. "The dollar is leading the rally, although there is nothing new on the debt crisis [in Greece, Portugal and Spain]."

"The dollar has been sold heavily. This is the driving force behind the move," a crude trader said.

At 10:51 GMT the front month ICE Brent contract traded at $70.58/barrel, a $0.47 rise. The NYMEX WTI contract meanwhile added $0.38/b, to trade at $72.27/b. The ICE Dollar index traded lower at 80.176 index points, a 0.126 fall.

Later Tuesday the American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly stock report, however the heavy snow that hit Washington DC over the weekend and closed down the capital on Monday has cast some doubt on the exact timing of this report and the more heavily weighted US Energy Information Administration report due Wednesday.

Analysts polled by Platts have forecast a 2 million barrel build in crude stocks, a 1 million barrel build in gasoline stocks and a 1.75 million barrel draw in distillates.

"We would expect to see more crude oil stock build in the US Gulf as there was still some catching up of discharge to do after the delays linked to the oil spill in the Sabine pass," Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob said in a report.

"The lower demand on the US East Coast due to the snow disruptions will not yet be apparent in this week's report but rather in the next two and that is something to keep in mind when reacting to the product numbers this week. More snowfalls are expected today and tomorrow on the East Coast and will continue to negatively impact demand for driving fuels," Jakob added.

From a technical point of view, the 200-day moving average remained a focal point during morning trade. For a number of days, the ICE Brent contract has been unable to break to the upside of the technical indicator which has prompted some sources to view this as a technical resistance level. The NYMEX WTI contract meanwhile has successively traded above the 200-day moving average, prompting others to view this as a technical support for the NYMEX benchmark.

--George Johnson, george_johnson@platts.com