* Oil slips as record U.S. stockpiles forecast
* Investors look to Fed chief Yellen for rate clues
(Updates with U.S. markets, adds comment; changes dateline,
previous LONDON)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices continued to
fall on Tuesday as oversupply fears resurfaced, while stocks and
the U.S. dollar were little changed ahead of a widely
anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
Yellen, due to speak at the Economic Club of New York at
12:20 p.m. EDT (1620 GMT), may offer hints on the central bank's
latest thinking weeks after the Fed forecast two further
interest-rate hikes this year, down from a forecast of four
following its December meeting.
On Wall Street, energy stocks weighed the most on the
benchmark S&P 500, but gains in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and
other technology sector bellwethers capped losses there and kept
the Nasdaq index afloat. .N
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 29 points, or
0.17 percent, to 17,506.39, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.1 points,
or 0.1 percent, to 2,034.95 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
added 11.29 points, or 0.24 percent, to 4,778.08.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 stock index was
up 0.3 percent and MSCI's index of shares in major world markets
.MIWD0000PUS slipped 0.2 percent.
Brent crude oil LCOc1 fell 3 percent to $39.06 a barrel
and U.S. crude CLc1 lost 3.3 percent to $38.09.
Oil prices are up some 50 percent from 12-year lows around
$27 touched in January but the rally has eased in recent days as
supply looks set to keep rising. O/R
"The amount of verbal intervention, which has obviously
helped the market greatly over the past two months, combined
with a production slowdown in the U.S., has probably taken (oil)
as far as it can; now the market really wants to see some
action," said Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen.
A preliminary Reuters survey of analysts showed U.S. oil
stockpiles measured by the American Petroleum Institute were
expected to reach record highs.
DOLLAR EYES YELLEN
The U.S. dollar was little changed against a basket of major
currencies as traders awaited clues on the rate hike path for
the Fed from comments by Yellen. .DXY
The euro EUR= fell less than 0.1 percent to $1.1189 and
the Japanese yen JPY= rose less than 0.1 percent to 113.37.
"The market is really sitting on the sidelines," said Jason
Leinwand, managing director at derivatives advisory firm
Riverside Risk Advisors in New York. "There is really no reason
to put any positions on when there's so much uncertainty about
what (Yellen) may say."
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR were last up
5/32 in price for a yield of 1.8544 percent, down from 1.872
percent late on Monday.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.4 percent to $1,225.80 per ounce
after hitting a one-month low on Monday.