* Disappointing China, Germany data caps oil prices
* U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell 845,000 bbls last week - API
* Coming up: EIA weekly oil inventories data at 1430 GMT (Updates previous SINGAPORE)
By Peg Mackey
LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Brent crude rose above $101 a barrel on Wednesday, drawing support from strong equity markets, but gains were capped by data pointing to slower growth and fuel demand in major economies.
The North Sea benchmark ended above $100 a barrel for a second straight day on Tuesday, tracking share markets on a view that central banks could intensify efforts to revive a flagging global recovery.
Brent futures rose 80 cents to $101.11 a barrel by 0917 GMT, while U.S. oil gained 71 cents to $89.89.
"It's an unusual situation in that bad economic news is good news for markets because it implies more easing by the central banks," said Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland.
"Crude oil is going along with the equity rally, but it will need the support of gasoline which is lagging behind."
INCREASED VOLATILITY
Oil's gains were kept in check by gloomy economic data in big consumers. Growth in Chinese factories slowed to a crawl as export demand dwindled, while Germany, the euro zone's largest economy, saw business activity decline for the first time in five months.
Uncertainty over global growth may result in commodities facing increased volatility, ANZ analysts said in a note.
"We continue to view recent weakness in the dataflow as consolidation, rather than the start of a 2012-style capitulation, but remain watchful of the loss of momentum in the manufacturing sector from these key countries," the bank said.
OIL STOCKS
In the United States, crude stocks fell last week as imports dropped while refined fuel inventories were mixed, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed late on Tuesday.
API's data showed that crude inventories fell by 845,000 barrels in the week to April 19, compared with analysts' expectations for an increase of 1.5 million barrels.
U.S. government data, expected at 1430 GMT, will shed more outlook on the appetite for oil. (Additional reporting by Florence Tan and Manash Goswami in Singapore; editing by Keiron Henderson)
