UPDATE 5-U.S. edges up, Brent slips eyeing dollar, data

                                
 * Dollar index nears all-time low
                                
 * U.S. jobless claims fall less than expected
                                
 * Coming up: Oil markets shut Friday ahead of Easter
 (Recasts, updates prices and market activity, changes byline
and moves dateline from previous LONDON)
                                
 By Robert Gibbons
                                
 NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures were mixed
on Thursday, with Brent slipping and U.S. oil clinging to gains
in choppy trading as disappointing economic data from the
United States limited the lift from a weakened dollar.
                                
 Separate reports showed the pace of factory activity in the
Mid-Atlantic region fell in April and that U.S. initial jobless
claims fell less than expected last week. This dampened
optimism about the economy and the outlook for oil demand.
                                
 Oil's slip from the session peak came after both Brent and
U.S. crude were lifted as the dollar tumbled a third straight
day and the dollar index <.DXY> neared an all time low.
                                
 Foreign exchange investors fretted over ultra-low U.S.
interest rates, S&P's threat of a U.S. credit rating downgrade,
and the euro's potential as an alternative reserve currency.
[USD/]
                                
 Geopolitical threats to oil supplies in Africa and the
Middle East remained supportive and brokers and analysts said
the risk would limit incentive to take profits after this
week's rally.
                                
 Brent crude for June <LCOc1> fell 41 cents to $123.44 a
barrel by 12:05 p.m. (1605 GMT), having earlier pushed up
nearly $1 to $124.81.
                                
 U.S. crude <CLc1> for June rose 30 cents to $111.75,
pushing earlier to a $112.48 peak.
                                
 Trading on CME Group's New York Mercantile Exchange will be
shut on Friday, with Globex electronic trading resuming at 6:00
p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) on Sunday.
                                
 "(U.S.) crude has rallied from $105 to above $112 during
the week, and above $110 you run into stronger resistance and
concerns about high prices hurting demand. And the jobs claims
fell, but are still above 400,000," said Gene McGillian,
analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.
                                
 Brent was trading within a few dollars of the 32-month high
of $127 a barrel reached earlier this month, a level which
forecasters in consumer countries have said is already high
enough to dent oil consumption.
                                
 The International Energy Agency's Chief Economist Fatih
Birol said oil producing nations need to reassure the market
after unrest in the Middle East and worries about supply
disruptions in the region pushed crude prices to near 32-month
highs. [ID:nLDE73K1M6]
 (Additional reporting by Emma Farge in London and Francis Kan
in Singapore; Editing by David Gregorio)