By Ben Sharples and Christian Schmollinger Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose for the first time in five days as the dollar weakened and some investors took the view a decline below $75 made it an attractive investment. Oil snapped four days of losses as the dollar fell against the euro, increasing the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment. The contract has traded between $75 and $81 for almost eight weeks and yesterday settled below $75 for the first time since Oct. 13. “Markets had for a while started to get used to the $75 to $80 a barrel range for oil, and the move to the lower part of that range is probably attracting some buying,” David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd. in Sydney, said by telephone. “The U.S. dollar eased back and that’s been another factor why the oil price has lifted.” Crude oil for January delivery gained as much as 46 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $74.39 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $74.12 a barrel at 11:58 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract fell $1.54, or 2 percent, to $73.93. Prices have climbed 67 percent this year. The dollar traded at $1.4841 per euro at 12:05 p.m. in Singapore, from $1.4827 yesterday. Oil dropped yesterday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. economy will face a weak labor market and tight credit, signaling fuel demand will be slow to recover. Bernanke’s comments “gave markets a bit of a reality check and made people reassess how they thought the recovery is going to pan out,” Ben Westmore, an energy and minerals economist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Melbourne, said by phone. “As a result oil got sold off.” Crude Supplies U.S. crude oil inventories probably gained 500,000 barrels last week, according to the median response of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News before an Energy Department report tomorrow in Washington. Inventories of gasoline increased by 1.75 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 4 from 214.1 million the prior week, according analysts’ estimates. Supplies of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, probably fell 800,000 barrels from 165.7 million the prior week, according to the survey. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in Washington. China Data Economic data out of China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, is expected to show a continued expansion, providing support for crude price. Industrial production probably rose 18.2 percent in November from a year earlier, according to a survey of economists before the report is released tomorrow. Output climbed by 16.1 percent in October. “Chinese economic data out this week is likely to be relatively strong, and markets have also come to the view that OPEC is most likely to leave oil production targets unchanged at the Dec. 22 meeting,” Moore said. Brent crude oil for January settlement rose as much as 57 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $77 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $76.67 a barrel at 11:54 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract dropped $1.09, or 1.4 percent, to $76.43. Brent crude is trading at a premium of $2.55 a barrel to New York futures versus a discount of $1.66 a month ago. To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@bloomberg.net

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