UPDATE 2-Oil rises above $53, buoyed by Chinese data

                                
 * Manufacturing sectors in China, India grow in April
                                
 * Asian stock markets hit seven-month peak
                                
 * Rally could be upset by news on U.S. banks later this week
                                
 
                                
 (Updates throughout, previous PERTH)
                                
 By Barbara Lewis
                                
 LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Oil climbed above $53 a barrel on
Monday, extending the previous session's four percent gains,
after data out of big fuel consumers China and India stoked
expectation economic recovery was gaining traction.
                                
 U.S. crude futures for June delivery <CLc1> rose 21 cents to
$53.43 a barrel by 0915 GMT. 
                                
 London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 38 cents to $53.23.
                                
 Strong gains on Friday had been spurred by improved U.S.
consumer confidence, as well as a Reuters survey that showed
OPEC oil supply had fallen for an eighth consecutive month.
[ID:nL1373138].
                                
 The market held firm on Monday after surveys showed the
manufacturing sectors in China, the world's second biggest fuel
consumer after the United States, and India had grown for the
first time in months in April.
                                
 Renewed economic optimism helped to drive Asian stocks to
seven-month highs on Monday. [MKTS/GLOB]
                                
 The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top leading shares in
April posted its biggest ever monthly rise and was again higher
on Monday, although a public holiday in Britain limited trade.
                                
 "We started to look at the green shoots in the United States
and now we're starting to look at what I like to call the bamboo
shoots," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix.
                                
 "As long as these keep investors hoping economic growth is
not that far away, the price should be relatively well
supported."
                                
 Oil prices have hovered around $50 a barrel for much of this
year, nearly $100 below an all-time high hit last July.
                                
 But the market has recovered from a trough of $32.40 touched
in December, the lowest level since early 2004. Output cuts from
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have
helped to push the market higher.
                                
 An OPEC survey on Friday showed OPEC had delivered around 84
percent of promised curbs of 4.2 million barrels per day since
September, around its highest ever level of output discipline.
                                
 OPEC efforts to support the price have been in part offset
by the impact of high inventories on land and large amounts of
floating storage as traders have made use of a bearish market
structure to stockpile oil.
                                
 The market could also be undermined this week depending on
the results of U.S. government bank stress tests, which will be
released to the banks on Tuesday and to the public on Thursday.
                                
 "A negative report could potentially cause a substantial
pullback in the equities and energy markets," said Ben Westmore,
a commodities analyst at National Australia Bank.
 (Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in Perth; editing by James
Jukwey)