* U.S. dollar index falls as euro strengthens
* China's crude imports surge in March, data show
* Coming up: IEA monthly Oil Market Report due Tues
(Updates prices, recasts, updates market activity, changes
dateline from LONDON)
By Edward McAllister
NEW YORK, April 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices inched up above
$85 a barrel on Monday, as the euro strengthened against the
dollar and data showed a big jump in Chinese crude imports.
Euro zone finance ministers approved a giant 30 billion
euro ($40 billion) emergency aid mechanism for debt-stricken
Greece on Sunday but stressed Athens had not requested the plan
be activated yet. []
The news drove the euro to its highest level against the
dollar in nearly a month. A weak dollar can denote a move by
investors away from the dollar to assets deemed riskier such as
commodities or equities and tends to support crude prices.
[]
U.S. crude for May delivery <CLc1> rose 28 cents to $85.20
a barrel by 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT). London Brent crude <LCOc1>
rose 53 cents to $85.36, moving to a premium above U.S. crude,
also known as WTI, for the first time in months with traders
saying the North Sea grade was benefiting more than its U.S.
counterpart from the Chinese data.
Chinese crude imports jumped 13.8 percent from the previous
month and reached 4.95 million barrels a day, preliminary data
released by the General Administration of Customs showed.
"The weaker dollar and strongly bullish Chinese data should
be very positive for oil," said Daniel Briesemann, commodities
analyst at Commerzbank. "Of course fundamentally, these high
oil prices cannot be justified, but based on sentiment, the
market still has room to go up, we think."
Technical chart analysts said the oil market was running
out of upward momentum after a sharp rise in prices at the end
of March and in early April. The pull-back came despite factors
that analysts said were supportive for the market.
TARGET $90?
"International demand ... is having a more positive impact
on Brent than WTI," said Christopher Bellew, broker at Bache
Commodities. "U.S. crude oil stocks are high and WTI has its
limitations as an (international) marker price because it is
based on a landlocked crude, well away from the coast."
The last time Brent futures traded consistently above U.S.
crude was in December.
China's strong demand for oil and copper showed no let-up
in March, with imports rising rapidly despite higher prices as
factories returned to work in earnest after the long Lunar New
Year holidays. []
In a sign of upbeat sentiment, open interest positions were
heavier at the NYMEX May $90 call option and the $80 and $75
put options, according to Reuters data on Friday.
[]
Money managers also extended net crude oil long positions
on the New York Mercantile Exchange to a record 186,732 in the
week to April 6, up from 169,478 in the previous week, the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.
[]
But crude oil's positive momentum has been showing signs of
running out of steam, technical analysts said, making a test of
support more likely for now than a fresh move to the upside.
"The positive momentum on WTI is starting to peak," said
Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix. "The challenge this week
for the bulls will clearly be to maintain support (at) $85."
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons in New
York, Fayen Wong in Perth, Christopher Johnson in London;
Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
