By Nirmal Bang

MARKET ROUNDUP

Crude oil futures settled $2.80 higher, or 3.76 percent, at $77.23 a barrel on Tuesday, boosted by optimism about an economic recovery and the weak dollar.

IN FOCUS

- Autodata Corp in a statement Says US auto sales January SAAR 10.78 million units Says January SAAR compares to 9.62 million units in January 2009 Says total U.S. auto sales up 6 percent in January 2010 from a year earlier

- OPEC oil ministers are unlikely to change output policy at their March meeting if the oil price remains around its current level of $75 a barrel, the group's secretary general on Tuesday.

- U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose last week much more than expected as imports gained, while distillates fell in line with expectations, according to weekly data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday.

- Kuwait's current crude output capacity stood at 3.15 million barrels per day (bpd), a senior official from the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) told Reuters on Monday.

- Crude inventories in the world's biggest oil consumer surged by 4.7 million barrels in the week to Jan. 29, the trade group reported. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a modest 200,000-barrel rise.

- The rise came as crude oil imports increased by 322,000 barrels per day to 8.47 million bpd, noted the report. Inventories of distillate fuels -- which include heating oil and diesel -- fell by 1 million barrels, API added, near forecasts of a 1.1-millionbarrel draw.

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK

Crude oil is trading half a percent lower on NYMEX on the back of rise in crude oil stocks posted by API earlier. Outlook for crude oil remains sideway to up for the day; but in the evening session we have EIA crude stock to released, any build posted by EIA may weigh further on crude oil prices.