SINGAPORE Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude steadied near $97 per

barrel on Thursday as investors took a breather after the past

few weeks of gains, ahead of a European Central Bank meeting

later in the day and China's trade numbers due on Friday.

FUNDAMENTALS

* U.S. crude rose 20 cents to $96.82 per barrel at

0014 GMT, after losing ground in the previous session on a rise

in inventories. It has gained for the last eight consecutive

weeks, longest such winning streak since 2004.

* Saudi Arabia kept oil output steady in January, an

industry source said, after two months of sharp reductions that

surprised oil traders and coincided with a rise in crude oil

prices.

* Laws restricting exports of U.S. crude oil could cap the

recent surge in domestic output, the executive director of the

International Energy Agency wrote in the Financial Times on

Wednesday.

* The European Central Bank is unlikely to contemplate an

interest rate cut at its policy meeting despite the euro's sharp

rise. Far more likely is that the appreciation will delay

discussion of an exit from the ECB's crisis policy.

* China needs to pay special attention to consumer prices

with controlling inflation a priority, the central bank said on

Wednesday in a turnaround from its previous focus of supporting

economic growth.

* Tunisia's ruling Islamists dissolved the government on

Wednesday and promised rapid elections in a bid to calm the

biggest street protests since the revolution two years ago,

sparked by the killing of an opposition leader.

* A European Union court has ruled that the EU should lift

sanctions it imposed on one of Iran's largest banks, the second

such judgment that could complicate Western efforts to increase

pressure on the Islamic Republic.

* U.S. crude inventories rose to 371.7 million barrels last

week and have been building to near-record seasonal highs,

government data from the Energy Information Administration

shows.

MARKETS NEWS

* U.S. stocks ended mostly flat on Wednesday, taking another

pause in the recent rally that has driven the S&P 500 to

five-year highs, as transportation and technology shares lost

ground.

* The euro drifted lower on Thursday, while sterling

wallowed at multi-month lows as cautious investors waited for

the outcomes of central bank policy meetings in Europe.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0530 India 2011/12 GDP

0745 France Trade data

1100 Germany Industrial output

1200 Britain BOE rate decision

1245 Euro zone ECB rate decision

1330 ECB President Mario Draghi gives news conference

1330 U.S. Weekly jobless claims

2000 U.S. Consumer credit

(Reporting by Ramya Venugopal; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

((ramya.venugopal@thomsonreuters.com)(+65 6870 3826)(Reuters

Messenger: ramya.venugopal.thomsonreuters.com@reutrs.net))

Keywords: MARKETS ASIA NYMEX/

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