REFILE-Oil steady above $79; eyes on U.S. oil data, dollar

(Corrects day of week in first paragraph)

* Awaits U.S. government oil inventory data

* Lingering weak dollar proffers support

* Strong Chinese trade data underpins prices

By Felicia Loo

SINGAPORE, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady above $79 a barrel on Thursday, as the market awaits U.S. government oil inventory data and watches the dollar, which is flirting with 15-month lows against a basket of currencies.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration data, delayed by one day due to the U.S. Veteran's Day holiday, is expected to show a 600,000 barrel increase in crude stockpiles in the world's top energy user. [ID:nN10336586]

U.S crude futures CLc1 inched up 18 cents to $79.46 a barrel by 0335 GMT, after closing 23 cents higher on Wednesday. Brent crude futures LCOc1 gained 20 cents to $78.15 a barrel.

"The market is adopting a wait-and-see attitude. Certainly the market looks to be overly overbought and what's holding it up is the continuing weak dollar," said Mark Pervan, senior commodities analysts at ANZ.