TOKYO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Crude futures held on to strong gains in early Asian trading on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged and a weekly government report on oil stockpiles showed an inventory build that was within expectations.
U.S. and global oil benchmarks were little changed, having jumped on Wednesday after the government report on inventory build reversed earlier bearish market expectations.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 were down 7 cents at $45.87 a barrel at 0100 GMT. They rose more than 6 percent on Wednesday, snapping three days of losses.
Brent crude LCOc1 was down 15 cents at $48.90 a barrel, after rising nearly 5 percent in the previous session.
U.S. crude stocks rose last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell more than expected, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12S1DS
Inventories rose in line with traders expectations but the buildup was less than the 4.1 million barrel increase reported by industry group, the American Petroleum Institute, a day earlier.
Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for U.S. futures fell 785,000 barrels, giving a bullish tone to the report. Gasoline and distillate inventories also fell more than expected.
The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and in a direct reference to its next policy meeting put a December rate hike firmly in play. Investors had expected the Fed to remain pat on rates, but the overt reference to December came as a surprise. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12R2IF