Oil hovers below USD 69 per barrel

Oil has meandered between USD 65 and USD 75 this summer as crude stocks soar and traders eye slumping consumer spending.

US oil inventories are higher now than in May,and analysts expect demand to drop off in the autumn following the summer driving season.

Investors will be looking at supply data from the American Petroleum Institute late on Tuesday and the Energy Information Agency on Wednesday for clues about the consumption trend. Analysts expect inventories to drop 3.0 million barrels,according to a survey by Platts,the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Crude investors have also been mulling the US dollar,which fell to its lows of the year last week. The dollar rebounded late last week,sparking a USD 4 drop in oil prices.

The euro was steady in Asian trading at USD 1.4624 and the dollar held near 91 yen.