* Oil falls from Friday's six-month high
* Wall Street falls as banks sell stock to raise cash
* China oil imports hit second highest on record in April
(Recasts, adds analyst quote, updates prices)
By Jane Merriman
LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - Oil retreated on Monday to $58 a
barrel, pressured partly by weaker equity markets and a firmer
dollar.
Profit-taking had also helped drive the market back from
six-month highs reached on Friday.
U.S. crude <CLc1> was down 47 cents at $58.16 a barrel by
1515 GMT, off a session low of $56.78. London Brent crude
<LCOc1> was down 92 cents at $57.22.
Crude hit a six-month high of $58.75 after the U.S. economy
shed fewer than expected jobs in April and government stress
test results removed some uncertainty over the health of major
American banks.
A mood among investors that the worst of the downturn might
be over has helped boost global equity markets and oil has
followed.
"It all depends on the stock markets," said Christopher
Bellew, of Bache Commodities Ltd.
"We would need a substantial deterioration in equity markets
for oil to go back into its old range. We seem to have broken
into a new range of around $55-$59 a barrel," he said.
Oil, which has plummeted from a record high above $147 a
barrel reached last year, has edged higher over the past three
months alongside a rally in equity markets.
U.S. crude is up about 80 percent from a January low of
$32.70 a barrel.
FALTERS
The rally faltered on Monday due in part to a weaker tone
across equity markets. []
Wall Street fell after four big U.S. banks announced plans
to sell more than $6 billion of common stock to raise capital
and repay funds received under a bailout plan. []
"Without fresh signs that the world economy is improving,
oil traders decided to book profits," said Peter Beutel,
president, Cameron Hanover, New Canaan, Connecticut.
News from China, the world's second biggest energy consumer,
supported the view that the economic climate is brightening.
A top Chinese central banker said the government's stimulus
plan had worked better than expected, while crude imports data
showed a spike in demand.
China's April crude oil imports saw the first monthly
increase of the year and hit the second-highest record on a
daily basis, providing more evidence that oil demand in the
country was picking up. [][]
In the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer,
utilisation at refineries was up last week by 2.6 percent to
83.3 percent.
"We believe this reflects refineries gearing up for the U.S.
driving season," Deutsche Bank said in a research note.
New York RBOB gasoline futures <RBc1> struck a six month
high last week.
But the bank believes the oil market's supply/demand
fundamentals remain bearish.
"Eventually in our view, refiners will have to scale back
and this will force crude oil back to $50 a barrel."
(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler in London and Fayen Wong
in Perth; editing by James Jukwey)
