* Oil eases ahead of Europe bank stress test results * Tropical Storm Bonnie nears Gulf of Mexico, supports oil * Coming up: CFTC positions data Friday, 3:30 p.m. EDT NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell back from an 11-week high reached earlier on Friday, amid uncertainty over bank stress test results in Europe. Oil markets also were eyeing Tropical Storm Bonnie, expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico and reach Louisiana on Sunday. Crude futures surged 3.5 percent on Thursday on supportive economic data that also fueled a rally in equities markets. FUNDAMENTALS * On the New York Mercantile Exchange, September crude CLU0 fell 71 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $78.59 a barrel at 8:41 a.m. EDT (1241 GMT), trading from $78.54 to $79.60, the highest front-month crude price since prices reached $80.39 on May 6. * Thursday's $79.30 a barrel settlement was the highest close since prices ended at $79.97 on May 5. * Tropical Storm Bonnie is expected to make landfall on the Louisiana Coast near New Orleans on Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The NHC continued to project Bonnie would not strengthen into a hurricane. [ID:nN23267844] * Iran will switch to currencies other than euros and dollars for payment of its oil exports, a senior Iranian official was quoted on as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency. [ID:nLDE66M0FF] * PetroChina (0857.HK) has diverted the Very Large Crude Carrier "Front Kathrine" to Fujairah port in the United Arab Emirates after discharging just above half its crude cargo in China, according to shipbrokers and AIS tracking data. [ID:nSGE66M0AW] * PetroChina is also in talks to divert more VLCCs from fire-hit Dalian port to Sinopec which operates refineries in eastern and southern China, trade sources said. ECONOMIC DATA * German July IFO business sentiment index posted a record jump to 106.2, its highest level in three years, from 101.80, besting consensus forecasts for 101.6. MARKET NEWS * The euro rose on Friday after the German Ifo index came in above forecasts, but analysts said there were downside risks for the currency, even if bank stress test results were benign. [FRX/] [MKTS/GLOB] * Gold rose towards $1,200 an ounce in Europe on Friday, supported by dollar weakness, as a retreat in risk aversion led to a return of the two assets' usual inverse relationship. [GOL/] UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS * The European Union's publication of euro-zone bank stress tests on Friday. * U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission weekly report on money managers' positions at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT) 8:41 LAST NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO CHNG CHNG VOL VOL CLc1 78.59 -0.71 -0.9% 78.54 79.60 34,778 322,410 CLc2 78.94 -0.70 -0.9% 78.9 79.94 8,613 81,213 RBc1 2.1248 -0.0218 -1.0% 2.1241 2.1574 1,936 27,119 RBc2 2.1200 -0.0209 -1.0% 2.1193 2.1519 4,419 35,169 HOc1 2.0483 -0.0141 -0.7% 2.0475 2.0742 1,668 34,515 HOc2 2.0741 -0.0154 -0.7% 2.0734 2.1018 2,949 38,342 TECHS LAST MA-30 MA-90 Boll up Boll dn RSI-30 Imp Vol CLc1 78.58 76.23 78.1 80.02 72.13 55.2 32.77 RBc1 2.1248 2.0600 2.1800 2.1900 1.9700 45.25 34.23 HOc1 2.0483 2.0900 2.0800 2.2000 1.8300 46.18 33.33 * NYMEX crude oil for September CLc1 fell 71 cents to $78.59 a barrel by 8:41 a.m. in volume of 34,782 lots. (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Alden Bentley)

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