RTRS: Oil falls below $53 on economic data, equities
Oil fell below $53 per barrel on Friday as worse-than-expected Japanese economic data and weaker stock markets encouraged profit-taking after several days of gains.
U.S. crude oil hit its highest level so far in 2009 on Thursday at $54.66 a barrel on expectations that efforts by the U.S. government to tackle bad debts and reflate the economy would help bolster domestic spending and boost oil demand.
U.S. light crude for May delivery fell $1.74 to $52.60 a barrel by 1310 GMT, having gained nearly 3 percent on Thursday.
London Brent crude fell $1.46 to $52.00.
Oil prices have gained more than 35 percent since mid-February, on the back of rallying stock markets and tightening oil supplies as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has curbed exports.
Crude oil markets are at the top of recent trading ranges and technical analysts say several markets are now overbought, suggesting it may be a good time to take profit.
An excuse for profit-taking came on Friday with Japanese retail sales data, which showed a bigger than expected fall of 5.8 percent in February from a year ago.
Economists said Japan appeared to be on the brink of deflation as exports dwindle and domestic demand falters.
On Thursday, U.S. jobs data showed the number of U.S. workers collecting state unemployment benefit rose to a record 5.56 million earlier this month while new claims rose to over 650,000 in the week to March 21.
MARKET TIGHTENING
Wall Street was set for a lower open on Friday as investors assessed the strength of a recent surge that has March on track to see the biggest monthly percentage gain since 1974. .N
European shares fell with banks and energy companies. .EU
"Depressing economic data have put a halt to the recent rally," said Christopher Bellew, oil broker at Bache Commodities in London.
Fundamentally, the oil market is gradually tightening, evidence from the shipping industry suggests.
OPEC seaborne oil exports, excluding Angola and Ecuador, will fall 770,000 barrels per day in the four weeks to April 11 to 22.23 million bpd, deepening the previous week's five-and-a-half- year low, U.K. consultancy Oil Movements said on Thursday.
