Oil mixed in Asian trade ahead of US housing data

Oil was mixed in Asian trade today as investors waited for the release of US existing homes sales data, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery dropped seven cents to $81.12 a barrel.
 
Brent North Sea crude for December delivery was three cents firmer at $79.54 a barrel. Crude prices surged to a one-year high of $82 earlier this week, driven by optimism over the global economic recovery and a weak dollar.
 
Data due later today for US existing home sales in September is expected to show a rise in transactions last month, analysts said.
 
"The bottom line is that home sales are accelerating rapidly, inventories of unsold homes are falling rapidly and starts/construction are now on the rise," analysts from Singapore's DBS bank said in a report.
 
"Housing, the epicentre of the downturn/financial crisis, is now contributing to GDP growth rather than subtracting from it... All things must pass, housing busts included," they said.
 
The US economy, in a recession since December 2007, is expected to post its first growth in a year in the third quarter of 2009, analysts said.