Brent rises to near $123, 9-month high on Iran

y Gene Ramos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brent crude oil rose to a nine-month high above $123 a barrel late Wednesday morning as supportive Iran-related tensions and supply worries outmatched weak economic data in Europe and China that cast doubt on the global growth outlook.

U.S. crude futures were stuck in negative territory after the new front-month April contract hit a fresh nine-month high above $106 as overbought signals triggered slight profit-taking, analysts said.

In London, ICE Brent crude for April delivery was up $1.16 at $122.82 a barrel, by 11:40 a.m. EST (1640 GMT). The contract was up most of the U.S. session then accelerated to $123.07, the highest price since the $125.02 intraday peak hit on May 3 last year.

U.S. NYMEX April crude was down 33 cents at $105.92 a barrel. The March contract, which expired on Tuesday, closed at $105.84 a barrel, the highest settlement for front-month NYMEX crude since May 4.

U.S. crude's Relative Strength Index (RSI) crept to just above 70 on Wednesday, which is the threshold for overbought conditions, according to Reuteres data, and that triggered some profit-taking which knocked prices back from the new peak.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog ended its latest mission to Iran after talks on Tehran's suspected secret atomic weapons research failed, a setback likely to increase the risk of confrontation with the West.

Russia warned Israel not to attack Iran over its nuclear program, saying on Wednesday that military action would have catastrophic consequences.

"Iran is still the main issue; it's keeping prices very well supported," said Andy Sommer, an analyst at EGL in Dietikon, Switzerland.

(Additional reporting by Simon Falush in London, Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Alden Bentley)