* Japan plans extra $100 bln economic stimulus
* European, Asian stock markets higher
* Gold slips towards 2.5-month low as risk appetite rises
(Updates throughout, changes dateline, pvs PERTH/SEOUL)
LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose above $53 per
barrel on Monday, buoyed by expectations that efforts by the
world's rich nations to stimulate their economies may help end
the global downturn sooner than expected.
Japan said it planned to spend at least $100 billion more to
help its economy survive the global crisis, as investors seized
on signs that markets may have bottomed to buy stocks and
commodities. []
In a sign appetite for risk is increasing, gold prices fell
more than 2 percent on Monday, slipping towards a
two-and-half-month low, and stock markets rose. []
Japan's Nikkei stock average hit a three-month closing high
and European shares opened higher, tracking a late rally in the
United States on Friday. [] []
U.S. light crude for May delivery <CLc1> was up 90 cents at
$53.41 a barrel by 0833 GMT. The contract ended 13 cents lower
to settle at $52.51 on Friday, as a bounce in Wall Street
countered an earlier slide set off by gloomy jobs data.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 80 cents to $54.27 a barrel.
Oil traders said agreement last week by G20 leaders on a
$1.1 trillion deal to combat the global economic crisis had
raised expectations that the downturn might not be as severe as
anticipated, but this optimism could be short-lived.
PIXIE DUST
"The pixie dust that President Obama and the G20 sprinkled
on markets last week is still working its magic," said
Christopher Bellew, oil broker at Bache Commodities in London.
"But I think that will blow away as people realise that
there is no quick fix for this recession. I do not think the oil
market will advance much further and I don't think the recent
stock market strength will be sustained."
Although crude oil prices have risen roughly 16 percent so
far this year, they are almost 60 percent below their high of
more than $147 a barrel last July.
U.S. stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow closing out its
best four-week winning streak since 1933, lifted by robust
results from Research in Motion and after Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank would do everything
it could to stabilise banks.
The gains came despite government data showing U.S.
employers slashed 663,000 jobs in March, lifting the
unemployment rate to a 26-year high of 8.5 percent. Some
analysts said the jobless number came in within expectations and
had already been priced in.
Analysts said investors may attempt to push oil towards the
$55 mark this week, should U.S. stocks rally further on signs
that the economic slump is abating and if earnings season does
not get off to a rocky start. []
Oil rose nearly 11 percent last month and snapped two
straight quarters of double-digit decline to rally 9.5 percent
in the first quarter, thanks to a rally in global stock markets
and OPEC's production cuts.
Crude oil speculators on the New York Mercantile Exchange
decreased net long positions in the week to March 31, data from
the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday.
(Reporting by Christopher Johnson in London, Fayen Wong in Peth
and Angela Moon in Seoul; editing by Anthony Barker)
