Oil rises on U.S. data; bets for stockpile drop

By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rallied on Tuesday, with U.S. crude settling up nearly 2 percent, after bullish economic data and bets for lower crude stockpiles in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer. Short-covering ahead of Thursday's expiry of the key front-month contract in U.S. crude also helped the market advance from a 6-1/2 year low hit on Friday. New York-traded U.S. crude settled up 75 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $42.62 a barrel.