UPDATE 2-Oil falls more than $1 on Japan export data

                                
 * Japan Feb exports, crude imports plunge
                                
 * China c.bank adviser says economy has "bottomed"
                                
 * U.S. crude stockpiles likely rose 1.2 mln barrels
                                
 
                                
 (Adds Japan data, updates prices, previous SINGAPORE)
                                
 By Chris Baldwin
                                
 LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - Oil fell by more than $1 in
early trade on Wednesday after weak export data from Japan, and
as investors paused to reassess bank clean up plans, halting a
global equities rally.
                                
 Japan, the world's second-largest economy, posted a record
drop in February for exports -- down by 49.4 percent -- as
global demand for Japanese cars and electronics evaporated.
[ID:nT316314]
                                
 Bearish supply and demand data in the world's largest oil
consumer the United States and in third-largest consumer Japan
also pushed prices lower.
                                
 U.S. light crude for May delivery <CLc1> fell $1.08 to
$52.90 a barrel by 1055 GMT, after touching a near three-month
high above $54 on Tuesday.
                                
 London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell $1.02 to $52.48.
                                
 U.S. crude inventories rose last week by 4.6 million barrels
to 345.5 million barrels, data from industry group American
Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday, with imports rising and
refinery utilisation down. [ID:nN24598561]
                                
 In Japan, crude oil import volumes fell by 13.9 percent in
February, their lowest tally for the month in 20 years,
preliminary data from Japan's Ministry of Finance showed.
                                
 "The Japanese numbers certainly spooked the market," said
Rob Montefusco, a commodities trader at Sucden Financial in
London.
                                
 "Crude numbers for the API data were bigger than expected,
and we're looking for the DOE numbers today to be higher. The
market is on the back foot at the moment," he said.
                                
 
                                
 CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
                                
 On Wednesday European stocks were little changed in early
trade after four days of gains, as investors turned cautious
ahead of key macroeconomic data and after sharp gains sparked by
a U.S. plan for banks' troubled assets. [.EU]
                                
 The U.S. Energy Information Administration, a branch of the
Department of Energy, will issue its separate weekly report on
nationwide stockpiles on Wednesday. [EIA/S]
                                
 On Tuesday night in the United States, President Barack
Obama said he was seeing signs of economic progress in the
housing market as he sought to reassure Americans he was on the
right track. [ID:nN23306403]
                                
 Speaking with cautious optimism on Wednesday, a Chinese
central bank adviser said China, the world's third-largest
economy, was showing signs of improvement.
                                
 "Before (the economy) bottoms out, it has to bottom. I
believe it has bottomed, with the stimulus package and signs of
recovery in some industries," said Fan Gang, who sits on the
Chinese central bank's monetary policy advisory committee, in a
Reuters interview in Hong Kong. [ID:nPEK323419]
 (Additional reporting by Chua Baizhen in Singapore, editing by
James Jukwey