* Oil down from Friday's six-month high
* Wall Street falls as banks sell stock to raise cash
* Late buying pares earlier losses
(Updates prices at settlement, EIA inventory poll)
By Edward McAllister
NEW YORK, May 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell marginally on
Monday, pressured slightly by weaker equity markets and a
firmer dollar.
U.S. crude <CLc1> fell 13 cents to settle at $58.50 a
barrel, off a session low of $56.78. In London, Brent crude
<LCOc1> settled down 66 cents at $57.48 a barrel.
"There was some late speculative buying that kept losses at
a minimum today and that shows you that despite the oil markets
earlier following equities, the oil price strength we've seen
lately is still intact," said Gene Mcgillian, analyst at
Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.
Oil prices hit 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.
Early profit-taking also helped drive the oil market down
nearly $2 from Friday's highs before support came from late
buying.
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.
"The oil market is still very strong, despite the fact that
we have a glut in crude supply. Prices are not down by much as
the market is resilient," said Mark Waggoner, President, Excel
Futures, Huntington Beach, California.
In an attempt to support prices, oil producing group OPEC
has cut output by 4.2 million barrels per day since September.
The group will meet again later this month to discuss its
options going forward.
A Kuwaiti oil official was quoted this weekend saying that
OPEC is not expected to announce further output cuts in its
next meeting. []
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. [][]
According to a preliminary Reuters poll ahead of weekly
government inventory data released Wednesday, U.S. crude
stockpiles are expected to rise by 1.2 million barrels in the
week ending May 8, with distillate stocks up 1.1 million and
gasoline stocks up 500,000 barrels.
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons in New
York, Jane Merriman and Alex Lawler in London and Fayen Wong in
Perth; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
