"People are just not so sure where crude is heading, that's why we are seeing very cautious bids and offers," one trader said.

They said sharper numbers are expected to emerge late in the day when trading resumes in London, giving new direction to the market.

Overnight August Brent crude in London closed down 31 cents per barrel to $13.61 despite Opec announcing a larger than expected output cut of 1.355 million barrels due to scepticism over members' commitment to the cutbacks.

Brent crude had gained $1.07 in the run up to the Opec meeting since Monday before coming for a correction on Wednesday. Across the barrel, product prices were down but the bid/ask range were at up to a wide 30 cents, making it difficult to assess the impact of the lower crude, brokers said. July gas oil swaps were last quoted at $15.50/$15.70, compared to$16.00/$16.10 on Friday.

Prices were held up by stronger bids where a European major and a Singapore trader raised buying levels by about 20 cents over the previous day's bids and about 40-50 cents over Monday's $15.20 per traded level in the physical market.

Traders said market was also propped up by fresh demand from Indonesia and signs of purchases from China. The Indonesia import requirement of 1.8 million barrels, trades said, were a boost considering market expectations were that the cash strapped country would forgo importing in July. Fuel oil swaps was also quoted weaker again within a wide band but traders said the market will rebound due to the strong physical support.

July paper was last quoted at $68.50/$70.00 per tonne against $70.50/$71.00 On Wednesday, brokers said. A European major, the main buyer in the market, bought a 20,000 tonne cargo on Wednesday at $69.00 per tonne, up a dollar from Tuesday's traded level. Naphtha swaps was nationally quoted about 30 cents lower than Wednesday at$14.10/$14.30.

Earlier, the fuel oil market notched up some gains on Wednesday as the buying spree of a European major continued went unabated, traders said. On Wednesday, the major bought one 20,000-tonne cargo at $69.00 per tonne, up a dollar from Tuesday's level, from the local trader.

The deal took the major's tally for the week to 120,000 tonnes. Traders said apart from the major's physical purchases there are no signs of fresh end-user demand emerging but some said that China could be gearing up to re-enter the market in a big way.