* Next Monday's U.S. Labor Day holiday is the traditional
end of the summer driving season and MasterCard said that U.S.
weekly retail gasoline demand fell 3.1 percent last week from
the previous week and managed only a 0.7 percent rise versus
the year-ago period. [ID:nN31257975]
* Hurricanes, now at the peak of the storm season,
potentially could have a greater negative effect on U.S.
gasoline consumption than on crude production and refining.
They have so far posed little threat to rigs and refineries in
the Gulf of Mexico coast.
* Powerful Hurricane Earl churned toward the eastern U.S.
seaboard on Tuesday and looked to sideswipe the densely
populated coast from North Carolina to New England, the U.S.
National Hurricane Center said late on Monday.
* Forecasters expected the main core of the Category 4
hurricane to stay offshore as Earl moved parallel to the coast
during the upcoming Labor Day holiday, disrupting holiday
plans.
* The U.S. National Hurricane Center was monitoring two
other tropical systems in the Atlantic, but computer models
showed no immediate threat to Gulf of Mexico oil
infrastructure. [ID:nN31235236]
* Worries about the U.S. economy have intensified with
recent reports showing a marked economic slowdown. The latest
bad data included an index of business activity in the U.S.
Midwest, which rose less than economists expected.
[ID:nN31183001]
* Traders on Tuesday noted that oil markets were already in
a cautious mood ahead of Friday's August U.S. nonfarm payrolls
report.
MARKETS NEWS
* Japan's Nikkei average hit its lowest in 16 months on
Wednesday, hurt by broad-based selling as investors remained
discouraged by the yen's continued strength after dumping
shares the day before. [.T]
* Growing fears of a double-dip U.S. recession weighed on
global stocks on Tuesday, pushing investors into the safe-haven
yen, which neared a 15-year peak versus the dollar. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy
meeting, in which policymakers saw increasing risks to economic
growth, also contributed to the cautious mood. [ID:nN31253959]
DATA/EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Wednesday, GMT:
- Eurozone Markit manufacturing PMI for Aug, 0758
- U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI for Aug, 1400
- U.S. EIA oil inventory report, 1430
RELATED NEWS
* President Barack Obama declared an end to the seven-year
U.S. combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday and told war-weary
Americans his central responsibility now was to restore the
sagging U.S. economy. [ID:nLDE67T0UW]
(Reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa)