* China June crude imports at 5.42 mln bpd, record high
* Coming Up: Alcoa kicks off quarterly earnings season
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production data due
(Adds analyst quotes, CFTC data, updates prices)
SINGAPORE, July 12 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell
below $76 a barrel on Monday, after gaining more than 5 percent
last week, as traders locked in profits ahead of earnings
season and fresh U.S. economic data.
Earnings on the S&P 500 are expected to have grown 27
percent in the second quarter, but the outlook for U.S.
consumer demand is less bright. U.S. retail sales data out on
Wednesday is expected to show spending easing 0.2 percent in
June. []
Crude for August delivery <CLc1> fell 51 cents to $75.58 a
barrel at 0701 GMT, after closing last week with a gain of more
than 5 percent -- its biggest jump since the week to May 28.
For a technical view, click: []
London Brent crude <LCOc1> was trading 60 cents lower at
$74.82 a barrel.
Oil rose earlier on Monday after China over the weekend
reported a 43.9 percent surge in June exports from a year
earlier, while crude imports in the world's second-largest
energy user rose by a quarter to hit a record high above 22
million tonnes. [] []
"The profit was good enough for them in the last few days"
as no new hurricanes were forming to push prices higher, said
Benson Wang, Sydney-based trader at Commodity Broking Services.
"I'll be very cautious about prices at these levels," he
said.
Weather forecasters reported no new signs of foul weather
brewing that could hit the Gulf of Mexico, after Tropical
Depression No.2 hit Mexico's coast near the border with Texas
on Thursday, missing energy production platforms.
INVESTORS CUT LONG POSITIONS
Investors were not as confident about the economic outlook
in the second half as they have unwound long positions in the
past couple of weeks, Wang said.
Net speculative long positions on NYMEX crude were cut by
nearly 20,000 to 74,216 in the week to July 6, data from the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday showed, the
third week of falls. []
For a graphic of NYMEX speculative crude positions, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/CFTC_Crude090710.gif
U.S. crude remains below a 19-month peak above $87 reached
in early May, having rebounded sharply from a trough below $65
on May 20.
Stock markets in Asia rose, after the best week in a year
for U.S. equities. The driver this week will be quarterly
earnings, which kick off on Monday with the results of
aluminium producer Alcoa.
U.S. June retail sales data out on Wednesday will be
pivotal to gauge the country's economic recovery, Stephen
Schork, president of energy advisory firm the Schork Group,
said in a note.
"If we are to see serious gains from the bulls this week,
we will need to see strength in equities, strong retail sales
figures and a weaker dollar would not hurt," he said.
The yen eased on Monday after election results showed
political uncertainty lay ahead for Japan after a poor showing
for the ruling party in upper house elections. []
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori and Florence Tan; Editing by
Michael Urquhart)
