U.S. crude oil up over one percent on Saudi pledge to stabilise prices

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose more than one percent in early Asian trading on Tuesday, after Saudi Arabia pledged to work towards oil price stability.

U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures increased 32 cents or 0.77 percent at $42.07 a barrel as of 0048 GMT after hitting $42.18 a barrel earlier in the session. It finished down 15 cents at $41.75 on Monday.

Benchmark Brent futures for January contract settled up 17 cents at $44.83 a barrel on the previous session.

"The focus is turning to the upcoming OPEC meeting and the hope that some production cuts will be forthcoming. OPEC member comments leading into the December 4 meeting are likely to continue to drive sentiment," ANZ said in a note on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia led a shift by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in November 2014 to defend market share against competing supplies, rather than cut output to prop up prices.

Saudi's cabinet said on Monday it was ready to cooperate with OPEC and non-OPEC countries to achieve market stability, days before OPEC meets to review its year-long policy of not supporting prices.

The ANZ note added that the markets are also eyeing any change in U.S. crude oil stocks with the market expecting a small increase.

Regarding U.S. commercial crude oil stocks, a preliminary Reuters survey with five analysts showed on Monday a crude stock build of 1.1 million barrels on average in the week ended Nov. 20, or a rise for a ninth consecutive week.

In other markets, Asian shares dragged their feet on Tuesday after a healthcare mega-merger failed to impress investors while the dollar held firm near an eight-month high as investors grew more convinced of a U.S. rate hike next month. The euro fetched $1.06365 , having fallen to a seven-month low of $1.0592 in U.S. trade on Monday.

(Reporting by Meeyoung Cho; Editing by Michael Perry)