U.S. crude futures eased on Thursday on a build in U.S. crude stocks, though supply worries linked to Middle East tensions helped keep prices just above $92 a barrel, as investors awaited signals on demand from GDP data due in key consumer China.

FUNDAMENTALS

* U.S. front-month November crude retreated 8 cents at $92.04 a barrel as of 0019 GMT, after it settled up 3 cents at $92.12 a barrel on the previous session.

* Brent December crude slipped 4 cents at $113.18 a barrel after it settled down 78 cents at $113.22 a barrel previously.

* U.S. crude stocks rose last week as imports increased, the Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday. EIA said domestic stocks of crude oil rose by 2.86 million barrels in the week to Oct. 12, higher than a rise of 1.7 million barrels forecast by a Reuters poll with analysts.

* Oil and financial markets eyed data from China due around 0200 GMT, as it is expected to show the world's second biggest economy likely slowed for a seventh straight quarter, missing the government's target for the first time since the depths of the global financial crisis.

* Groundbreaking on new U.S. homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years, a sign the housing sector's budding recovery is gaining traction and supporting the wider economic recovery.

* French President Francois Hollande appealed on Wednesday for more efforts to boost growth across the euro zone, warning ahead of a European Union summit starting on Thuursday that recession was as big a threat as budget deficits.

* At the summit European leaders will try to bridge deep differences over plans for a banking union but no substantial decisions are expected, reviving concerns about complacency in tackling the three-year-old debt crisis.

* Spain has set a 90-billion-euro ($118 billion) limit for the size of a bad bank created to take over other financial entities' toxic real estate assets, a necessary step to obtain European funding for the sector.

* Greece and its international lenders have agreed on most austerity cuts and reforms needed to unlock fresh aid for the near-bankrupt country, the lenders said as they concluded a visit to the Greek capital on Wednesday.

* Two years after expanding at its fastest rate since reunification, Germany's economic growth is seen at just 1 percent next year, finally hit by the euro zone crisis that has hammered most of its partners.

* Tension in the oil-producing Gulf region persists. The international mediator on Syria said on Wednesday its civil war risks spilling across borders to engulf the Middle East and appealed for a temporary truce he said could mark a small step towards defusing 19 months of conflict.

* Iran is believed to be further increasing its uranium enrichment capacity at its Fordow plant buried deep underground, Western diplomats say, in another sign of Tehran defying international demands to curb its disputed nuclear programme.

MARKETS NEWS

* The S&P 500 rose for the third consecutive day on Wednesday after housing starts hit a four-year high, but the Dow was weighed down by IBM after it posted weak revenue.

* Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened up 0.91 percent at 8,886.56 on Thursday, while the broader Topix gained 0.78 percent to 745.54.

* The euro hovered at a multi-week high on Thursday. The euro stood at $1.3116, having risen about 0.5 percent on Wednesday to as far as $1.3140 -- a high not seen since mid-September.

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Thursday (GMT):

0200 China GDP Q3

0200 China Industrial output Sep

0200 China Retail sales Sep

0200 China Urban investment Sep

1230 U.S. Jobless claims Weekly

1400 U.S. Leading indicators Sep

1400 U.S. Philadelphia Fed business activity index

European Council meeting, Brussels (to Oct. 19)