BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- Crude oil futures rebounded slightly Tuesday in Asia after an overnight drop, but traders expected more downward corrections to come before an advance to new highs, mainly due to upcoming U.S. oil inventory data, which is expected to be bearish.

"Yesterday's correction is still shy of our expected $5, so we expect another $1 correction is possible," said Ryoma Furumi, a broker at Newedge Japan.

At 0637 GMT, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July were trading 47 cents higher, at $134.82 a barrel, during the Globex electronic session at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Nymex heating oil for July gained 175 points to 389.45 cents a gallon, while July reformulated gasoline blendstock stood at 339.92 cents a gallon, 52 points higher.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange rose 42 cents to $134.33 a barrel, while June gasoil changed hands at $1,258.50 a metric ton, $1.25 lower.

Calling Thursday and Friday's rally "overcooked," Jim Ritterbusch, president of a trading advisory firm Ritterbusch & Assoc., said in a note that crude may slip further "into the $130-$133 zone" as Wednesday's oil stocks data could " possibly place further pressure on price levels."

U.S. crude oil stocks are expected to rise slightly in data the Department of Energy will release Wednesday, according to a preliminary Dow Jones Newswires survey of analysts.

Crude oil inventories are expected to rise by 100,000 barrels, while gasoline stocks may increase by 1.1 million barrels, according to the mean of seven analysts' forecasts.

Stocks of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, are on average expected to rise by 1.5 million barrels.

Traders mostly ruled out an end to the long-term uptrend, and expected a new high of around $150 per barrel to be reached in the coming weeks.

"The drop is a normal correction in an upward trend. The trend remains intact and bulls are determined to push prices higher, (which is) usually $15-$20 per cycle. So the next target should be around $145-$150," said Li Rong, an analyst with Shanghai-based Great Wall Futures.

"Morgan Stanley predicts crude will hit $150 by Independence Day (July 4). I'm thinking maybe it can be earlier than that." said Newedge's Furumi.

Jim Ritterbusch said a possible renewed selloff of the U.S. dollar later this week could trigger another oil price advance; he holds his target unchanged at $ 146.5 per barrel.

-Renya Peng contributed to this story, Dow Jones Newswires; (8610) 65885848; renya.peng@dowjones.com

    (END) Dow Jones Newswires   06-10-08 0258   Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.