Oil dips below $63 on faltering demand

By Chris Baldwin

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped below $63 a barrel on Tuesday as concerns about faltering demand offset OPEC comments suggesting the producer group could throttle back output again to support prices.

U.S. crude settled down 49 cents at $62.73 a barrel, before rising to $64.10 in post-settlement trade.

London Brent crude settled $1.12 lower at $60.29 a barrel.

Oil demand in the United States and other large consumer nations has dropped this year due to the slumping economy, dragging crude off record highs above $147 a barrel in July.

Gasoline demand fell by 6.4 percent last week versus year-ago levels, according to data from MasterCard Advisors released on Tuesday. The losses in oil prices came despite a rally in U.S. stocks as investors scoured the market for bargains.

Oil has tracked global stock markets at times over the past month as the financial crisis deepened.

"Seems oil is finally detaching itself from the stock market. At least for today," said Tom Bentz, an analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc.

Crude prices found support early on evidence the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries would act on last week's decision to cut production as the United Arab Emirates state oil company reduced volumes to term customers.