* Tuesday's rebound not sign of change in fundamentals -
broker
* Venezuela repeats call for OPEC production cut
* Japan's manufacturing confidence slumps further
By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied early on
Tuesday as traders closed short positions and took on new longs
after markets tumbled in the previous session.
Crude prices fell on Monday with the onset of lower demand
autumn trading and as weak economic data out of China and soft
gasoline prices RBc1 pressured the market. ID:nL4N11K1A2
A broker said Tuesday's gains were mainly driven by market
participants with short positions locking in profit following
Monday's falls, while other traders took the price fall as an
opportunity to place new orders.
Front-month U.S. crude futures CLc1 were trading at $44.30
per barrel at 0029 GMT on Tuesday, up 30 cents from their last
settlement. Internationally traded Brent futures LCOc1 were up
32 cents at $46.69 a barrel.
"This morning's trading is not representative of
fundamentals, but instead a digestion of yesterday's moves,"
said the broker.
Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro late on Monday repeated
his call for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) to convene a heads of state meeting and that he
would present the country's proposals to shore up oil prices to
the group.
Yet Middle East producers from OPEC - who effectively
control the export club - have so far pledged to maintain high
output in a fight to defend market share against rising
competition.
So far, they have stuck to their decision despite calls by
other OPEC members, such as Venezuela, for the Middle East to
cut excessive output. ID:nS8N0YN00Z
Instead, there has even been growing competition amongst the
lowest cost producers in the Middle East, such as Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia, to undercut each other with discounts for supplies
to their core markets in Asia. ID:nL4N11K241
On the demand side, Japanese manufacturers' confidence
slumped the most in a year in September to an eight-month low
and is forecast to worsen further as fears of a China-led global
economic slowdown grow, a Reuters poll showed. ID:nT9N10I02C
(Editing by Ed Davies)