* U.S. May retail sales fall for first time since Sept
* Chinese industrial output falls in May vs April
* Technical outlook points to further falls
(Updates prices, adds detail)
By Emma Farge
LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices slid under $75 a barrel on Friday after an unexpected fall in May retail sales in the United States, which renewed concerns about the economic recovery in the world's largest energy consumer.
Prices started slipping just after the release of data from the U.S. Commerce Department showing total retail sales fell 1.2 percent, the largest decline since September, after rising by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in April. [
]But the market later pared losses after U.S. consumer sentiment improved in early June to its strongest level in nearly 2-1/2 years. [
] By 1427 GMT, U.S. crude for July <CLc1> was down 65 cents at $74.83 a barrel after earlier falling nearly $2 a barrel.ICE Brent <LC0c1> was trading down 10 cents at $75.19.
"The retail sales number put a damper on things and the report on Chinese inflation had already helped pull oil back," said Robert Yawger, senior vice president, energy futures at MF Global in New York.
Most analysts expected a slowdown in the pace of fuel demand recovery in the euro zone, making the market increasingly reliant on China as the growth driver, while at the same time hindering its potential to play such a role.
On Thursday, the 48.5 percent surge in Chinese exports last month helped boost oil prices. China is the world's second-largest energy consumer.
But data on Friday showed that China's industrial output slowed in May from April, reviving concerns that economic growth could be slowing. [
]"We are currently stabilising towards the top end of the recent range but it seems to be having trouble getting higher than this," said Christopher Bellew of Bache Commodities.
"Sentiment is still fairly fragile and people are worried about the depth of the European crisis."
At near $75 a barrel, oil prices are now in the middle of what Saudi Arabia's oil minister calls the "ideal realm" between $70 and $80 a barrel.
Oil prices have risen for the past three sessions and are now around $10 above the low touched in May during the steep sell-off across the energy complex.
But prices are still nearly 15 percent below the 19-month high of $87.15 touched in early May.
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For a graphic on the technical outlook, click here:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20101106091036.jpg ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Robert Gibbons in New York and Ikuko Kurahone in London, Editing by William Hardy)