* U.S. EIA weekly data at 1430 GMT
* U.S. April retail sales, due at 1230 GMT
* China April crude runs rise 2nd time in six mths
(Updates prices, detail, changes dateline from SINGAPORE)
LONDON, May 13 (Reuters) - Oil rose towards $60 a barrel on
Wednesday, after hitting a six-month high the previous day,
after U.S. inventory data showed an unexpected drawdown,
boosting hopes for recovery in the world's top energy user.
Oil was also buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar, which slid to a
four-month low against a basket of currencies as growing
optimism about the global economy boosted investors' risk
appetite and curbed demand for the greenback as a safe haven.
[]
The market awaited the U.S. Energy Information
Administration's (EIA) weekly report at 1430 GMT to confirm the
report of a surprise fall in crude stocks.
April retail sales data and March business inventory figures
due later in the day would also provide more clues on the health
of the U.S. economy.
By 0745 GMT, U.S. crude for June delivery <CLc1> was up 75
cents at $59.60 a barrel, having hit a high of $59.90. It
settled 35 cents higher at $58.85 a barrel on Tuesday, off an
earlier peak of $60.08, its highest since November.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 80 cents to $58.74.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday that
U.S. crude inventories fell 3.1 million barrels to 370.7 million
barrels last week, against a forecast of a 1.4 million barrel
increase in a Reuters poll of analysts. [] []
DATA
"The unexpected draw in crude oil stocks in the APIs last
night is clearly behind this move," said Christopher Bellew, oil
broker at Bache Commodities in London.
"Although crude stocks are high, there is an incentive to
hold stocks with low interest rates and big contangos (discounts
for prompt oil). So it looks as if oil has achieved some sort of
equilibrium even though the recession is still with us."
Adding to positive sentiment was data that showed Chinese
refinery output had accelerated in April, registering a second
yearly rise in six months, as refiners stepped up supplies amid
a recent big fall in inventories.
Coupled with the second-highest ever daily crude imports
last month, signs point to a strong rebound in fuel demand for
the world's second-biggest oil consumer. []
The market shrugged off data showing China's industrial
output rose less than expected last month. China's factory
output rose 7.3 percent in April from a year earlier, below
analysts' 8.3 percent forecast. []
Another bright spot may come with the release of U.S. April
retail sales at 1230 GMT, expected to remain unchanged from a
1.2 percent fall in March, a Reuters poll of economists showed.
Excluding automobiles, sales are seen up 0.2 percent compared
with a 0.9 percent slide the prior month. []
Oil has plunged from a record high above $147 a barrel hit
last July, but a rally in stock markets over the last few months
has helped lift crude almost 80 percent from a January low of
$32.70 a barrel.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is
unlikely to cut its oil output target at its meeting later this
month, a source close to the group's president and a second OPEC
delegate said on Tuesday. []
The producer group is also due to release its monthly report
later on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Christopher Johnson in London and Jennifer Tan in
Singapore; editing by Sue Thomas)
