RPT-UPDATE 2-Oil extends rise towards $58 on economic hopes

                                
 (Repeats to additional subscribers)
                                
 * Oil rises above $57 on economic hope after near 6-mth
high
                                
 * Bank stress test results push U.S. equity markets higher
                                
 * Asian stocks rise too; await for more economic data
 (Adds oil rising by more than $1, recasts headline, lead)
                                
 By Maryelle Demongeot
                                
 SINGAPORE, May 8 (Reuters) - Oil extended gains towards $58
a barrel on Friday, heading for weekly gains of more than 8
percent as signs the global economy may have reached bottom
multiplied and stirred hopes of recovering oil demand down the
road.
                                
 The U.S. stock markets welcomed the results of bank stress
tests in which U.S. regulators asked top banks to raise $74.6
billion to build a capital cushion, sending U.S. stocks <SPc1>
up in after-hours trade and erasing earlier
losses.[ID:nN07333426]
                                
 U.S. light crude for June delivery <CLc1> rose $1.02 to
$57.73 a barrel by 0634 GMT, up 1.8 percent after having
settled up 37 cents at $56.71 a barrel on Thursday, the highest
settlement since Nov. 14.
                                
 London Brent crude <LCOc1> gained $1.12 to $57.59, up
almost 2 percent, after having earlier shot up to $57.80.
                                
 "People got optimistic (after the test results) because it
wasn't as bad as they thought it would be," said Tony Nunan,
risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.
                                
 "But we are not out of the woods yet. The economy has yet
to recover and there could still be another dip in prices."
                                
 Oil has gained more than 65 percent since hitting the low
$30s in February, rallying with stronger equity markets as
economic indicators have stopped worsening.
                                
 Encouraging the optimism, Labor Department data on Thursday
showed the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless
aid unexpectedly fell by 34,000 last week to a seasonally
adjusted 601,000, the Labor Department said. [ID:nN07289463]
                                
 U.S. retailers also posted better-than-expected monthly
sales results for a second straight month in April, giving
fresh evidence that consumer spending is warming up with the
spring weather. [ID: nN07542905]
                                
 Asian stocks rose on Friday after having opened lower.
[MKTS/GLOB]
                                
 The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> gained 0.78 percent by 0636 GMT while Japan's
main Nikkei index <.N225> rose 0.5 percent. The index had
already chalked up an 8.6 percent gain over the previous four
sessions.
                                
 Despite some signs the global economic downturn may be
bottoming out, a major test will come later on Friday with the
release of U.S. employment data for April. [ID:nN06325019]
                                
 Economists expect the U.S. unemployment rate to have gained
to 8.9 percent from 8.5 percent in the previous month.
                                
 The U.S. economy may be at the bottom of its current
downturn, but is unlikely to rebound substantially before the
end of this year, the chief executive of Chevron Corp <CVX.N>
told the Boston College Chief Executives Club on Thursday.
[ID:nN07273914]
 (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)