NYMEX-Crude dips below $102; supply worries support

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FUNDAMENTALS

* U.S. crude eased by 37 cents at $101.87 a barrel by 0020 GMT.

* Brent was not traded, after ending up 83 cents at $113.28 on Tuesday.

* Talks on a bond swap between Greece and private creditors to halve its debt load are nearing a deal with banks asking for enhanced return if the economy does well, banking and official sources said on Tuesday as pressure builds for an agreement.

Greece is racing to conclude a deal and secure continued funding by its euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), without which it faces a default in March, when 14.5 billion euros of its bonds mature.

* Fitch Ratings does not expect to cut France's triple-A credit rating this year, while countries under review such as Italy or Spain could be downgraded by one or two notches, the agency's EMEA ratings head said on Tuesday.

* Religiously motivated attacks killed 13 people in Nigeria on Tuesday, as tens of thousands took to the streets in a second day of nationwide protests against the scrapping of a fuel subsidy that has nearly doubled petrol prices.

* European Union governments agreed on Tuesday to bring forward a foreign ministers' meeting expected to decide on an oil embargo on Iran by one week to Jan. 23, but were unable to agree when a ban should be imposed.

* Japan has asked Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to supply it with more oil, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said on Tuesday, as tighter Western sanctions threaten to reduce its oil imports from Iran.

* U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday Iran's decision to enrich uranium near the city of Qom was "especially troubling" and urged Tehran to return to serious talks with Western powers over its atomic program.

* U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week, but less than forecast, led by a steep gain at the U.S.

"23, but were unable to agree when a ban should be imposed.* Japan has asked Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to supply it with more oil, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said on Tuesday, as tighter Western sanctions threaten to reduce its oil imports from Iran.* U.S"Gulf Coast, as crude imports jumped, according to weekly inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute released on Wednesday.

* The market will now await confirmation of the API report when the U.S. Energy Information Administration releases its own data at Wednesday at 1530 GMT. U.S. commercial crude oil stockpiles were expected to have risen last week, marking the third straight week of gains, on higher imports, an extended Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.

MARKETS NEWS

* The euro clung to modest gains on the greenback in Asia on Wednesday but floundered near a record low versus the Australian dollar in cautious trade a day ahead of the European Central Bank policy meeting and debt sales from Spain.

* Japan's Nikkei average edged higher on Wednesday, taking comfort from climbs on Wall Street, though euro zone sovereign debt turmoil was likely to cap gains.

* U.S. stocks climbed to a five-month high on Tuesday, led by materials stocks after an upbeat forecast by aluminum company Alcoa and strong gains in bank shares.

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Wednesday:

0730 India M3 Money Supply

2350 Japan Bank lending yy Dec 2011

1530 U.S.

EIA petroleum stocks Weekly (Reporting by Cho Mee-young; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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