* Market off lows after U.S. stocks data; Brent snaps 5-day run-up
* Lighter volumes ahead of Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday
* EIA reports U.S. crude build below Reuters, API projections
* Gasoline, distillate inventories rise more than thought (New throughout, updating market activity and comments after EIA data)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Oil fell 1 percent on Wednesday as supportive geopolitical tensions in the previous session faded and focus returned to the global oil glut, although a smaller-than-expected U.S. supply build helped crude futures pare some losses.
Traders and investors also appeared to be avoiding big new short positions in U.S. crude ahead of Thursday's market close for the Thanksgiving holiday, analysts said.
By noon in New York, U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures had traded less than 240,000 lots, about half of Monday's volume. The lighter volume could have the potential to distort price moves.
"With this being a holiday-shortened week, I'd expect the moves to be larger-than-normal," said Tariq Zahir, who mostly trades in crude oil spreads for Tyche Capital Advisors in Long Island, New York.
Benchmark Brent futures LCOc1 snapped a five-day run-up, trading 68 cents lower at $45.44 a barrel by 11:55 a.m. EST (1655 GMT), having touched a session bottom of $45.03 earlier. Brent hit a two-week high of $46.50 on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, reacting to Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane.
WTI CLc1 fell 47 cents to $42.40, versus a session low at $41.72.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude oil stocks across the country rose by 961,000 barrels last week. A preliminary inventory report by industry group American Petroleum Institute had anticipated a 2.6-million barrel rise while a Reuters poll of analysts forecast a 1.2 million build.
While the smaller crude stocks number announced by the EIA pulled the market up from the day's lows, big inventory rises in gasoline and distillates prevented crude futures from turning positive, traders noted.
Gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 2.5 million barrels, versus the 938,000-barrel build forecast in the Reuters poll.
Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI , which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.0 million barrels, versus expectations for a 417,000 barrels drop.
U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 were down almost 2 percent. Futures of ultra-low sulfur diesel HOc1 fell more than half a percent.
While U.S. crude stocks as a whole rose by less than 1 million barrels, the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for WTI futures USOICC=ECI alone saw a 1.74 million-barrel build. Big rises in Cushing often tend to pressure prices.
"In all, the bears practically ran the table," said John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital.