* Oil down from Friday's six-month high
* Wall Street falls as banks sell stock to raise cash
* China oil imports in April second highest on record
(Recasts, updates prices; changes dateline from LONDON))
By Edward McAllister
NEW YORK, May 11 (Reuters) - Oil fell fell below $58 a
barrel on Monday, pressured partly by weaker equity markets and
a firmer dollar.
U.S. crude <CLc1> fell 75 cents to $57.88 a barrel by 12:10
p.m. EDT (1710 GMT), off a session low of $56.78. In London,
Brent crude <LCOc1> was down $1.20 at $56.94 a barrel.
"The petroleum markets are starting off the week on a
softer note, consistent with the weakening of global equity
markets and a somewhat stronger U.S. dollar," said Tim Evans,
energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York
Oil prices fell after hitting a near six-month high of
$58.75 on Friday, 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.
However, U.S. stocks fell on Monday as investors booked
profits after a strong run and several major banks announced
large common stock offerings to repay government bailout
funds.
Profit-taking also helped drive the oil market down from
Friday's highs.
"Without fresh signs that the world economy is improving,
oil traders decided to book profits," said Peter Beutel,
president of Cameron Hanover in New Canaan, Connecticut.
A stronger dollar, which makes oil more expensive for
holders of other currencies, also added pressure to the oil
price.
Oil, which has plummeted from a record high above $147 a
barrel 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.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, will maintain
supply curbs to Asia and the United States in June, industry
sources said on Monday, while some importers in Europe were
told to expect lower crude volumes. []
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 imports marked the first monthly
increase of the year and hit the second-highest level 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,
utilization at refineries was up last week by 2.6 percentage
points at 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 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," it said.
(Additional reporting by Jane Merriman and Alex Lawler in
London and Fayen Wong in Perth; Editing by Walter Bagley)
