* Tight North Sea supply, Libya supportive to Brent
* Brent premium to U.S. crude hits record above $27/bbl
* Weak equities, economic fears weigh on U.S. crude
* Coming up: API oil data, 4:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday (Updates prices, market activity, changes byline and moves dateline from previous LONDON)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Brent crude rose on Tuesday after falling in the previous three sessions as tight North Sea supply and continuing uncertainty in Libya boosted prices.
U.S. oil fell on pressure from slumping equities, especially on Wall Street where markets resumed trading after the U.S. Labor Day holiday on Monday, and worries about a global economic slowdown.
Brent's premium to U.S. crude
European equities dropped, extending Monday's 4 percent decline, with bank shares hitting a 29-month low on worries about the political handling of the euro zone debt crisis. [.EU] [MKTS/GLOB]
Major U.S. stock indexes fell more than 2 percent on fears the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis was worsening and that the U.S. economy was sliding back into recession. [.N]
Equities and U.S. crude pared losses and Brent received a lift from data showing U.S. services sector growth picked up in August, snapping a three-month streak of slower expansion. [ID:nN1E7850AY]
But investors noted that the pace of hiring slowed slightly in the Institute for Supply Management's report on the dominant service sector, not encouraging after Friday's dismal U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for August.
"Libya's crude is still not in play and North Sea problems remain supportive for Brent, and U.S. markets are still playing catch-up after being shut," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
ICE Brent October crude
U.S. October crude
The Brent crude spread to its U.S. counterpart stood at $26.97, after reaching $27.23 intraday.
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For a 24-hour technical outlook on Brent:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT1/20110609085138.jpg
For a 24-hour technical outlook on WTI:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT1/20110609084314.jpg
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Christopher Johnson in London and Francis Kann in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson)