U.S. crude futures edged lower on Wednesday in choppy trading amid weak U.S. retail sales numbers and OPEC's forecast of even higher demand losses in 2009. Crude futures had risen earlier following an American Petroleum Institute inventory report late Tuesday showing a surprise drawdown in crude supply. "Crude and products futures pared gains this morning, after initially posting gains overnight after weekly inventory data from the API lifted futures late yesterday," Addison Armstrong, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut, said in a note. The API said Tuesday U.S. crude inventories fell last week by 3.1 million barrels to 370.7 million barrels. Gasoline stocks declined 2.0 million barrels and distillate stocks dropped 1.8 million barrels, all against forecast. [API/S] A Reuters survey of analysts had forecast crude supplies would be up 1.4 million barrels, a 100,000-barrel rise in gasoline stocks and a 1.3-million-barrel gain in distillates. [EIA/S] The U.S. Energy Information Administration's inventory report is due Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT). U.S. stocks opened lower after key U.S. retail sales data came in worse than expected. [.N] Sales at U.S. retailers fell a second straight month in April, pulled down by sluggish gasoline and electronic goods, government data showed. Gasoline sales dropped 2.3 percent in April, after tumbling 3.2 percent in March. [ID:nN12361802] PRICES * On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:35 a.m. EDT (1335 GMT), June crude CLM9 was down 24 cents, or 0.41 percent, at $58.61 a barrel, trading from $58.53 to $59.90. Tuesday's $60.08 intraday peak was the highest since $62.28 was hit on Nov. 11. * In London, June Brent crude LCOM9 was down 29 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $57.65, trading from $57.50 to $59.05. * NYMEX June RBOB RBM9 rose 1.10 cents, or 0.66 percent, at $1.6789 a gallon, trading from $1.6672 to $1.6975. * NYMEX June heating oil HOM9 was near flat, down only 0.10 cent, or 0.07 percent, at $1.5060 a gallon, trading from $1.4980 to $1.5320. * The June/June RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at $11.65, after ending at $11.20 on Tuesday. The June/June heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $4.53, after ending at $4.44 on Tuesday. * The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $17.64, based on the June 2014 contract settlement on Tuesday at $76.25. The spread ended at $17.40 on Tuesday. TECHNICALS NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $56.14/$52.76 Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $58.00/$60.08 NYMEX heating oil: $1.45/$1.55 NYMEX RBOB: $1.60/1.7095 For a report on technicals click [ID:nLD832800] MARKET NEWS * OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report demand would drop by 1.57 million barrels per day in 2009, versus its previous forecast for a 1.37 million bpd drop. The report said April quota compliance dropped to 77 percent from 82 percent in March. [ID:nLD88886] * The International Energy Agency's oil demand forecast for 2009 is unlikely to change much in its next report, expected Thursday, the agency's head said.

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