U.S. crude futures edged lower Friday in choppy trading as Wall Street slipped and with oil having retreated from an early high on a weaker dollar weakness and rising implied demand in China when resistance firmed near $62 a barrel. "We may be stuck in a $60-$62 range and the S&P sliding pressured. It's the same discussion about weak fundamentals versus the expectation that the economy will improve in the second half," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut, "The volume's thin and the shorts may be reluctant late to be too short during the long weekend," McGillian added. U.S. stocks turned negative Friday on worries about the fiscal outlook of the United States, with U.S. Treasuries and other dollar-denominated assets also lower. [.N] The dollar fell to its lowest level in five months against a basket of currencies as concerns about the U.S. sovereign rating accelerated a recent drive to move away from the greenback. [USD/] China's apparent oil demand in April rose 3.9 percent from a year earlier, its first significant rise since October 2008. [ID:nPEK90266] "We can say China oil demand news supportive, but it appears the dollar falling to new lows for 2009 is providing the main support for crude this morning," said Tom Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas Commodities Futures Inc in New York. Refined products were mixed and also choppy as RBOB was supported by expectations for demand to pick this U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend. PRICES * On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:03 a.m. EDT (1403 GMT), July crude CLN9 was down 5 cents, or 0.08 percent, at $61.00 a barrel, trading from $60.50 to $61.98. * Wednesday's $62.26 intraday peak was the highest since $62.28 set on Nov. 11, 2008. * In London, July Brent crude LCON9 was up 9 cents, or 0.15 percent, at $60.02 a barrel, trading from $59.61 to $60.94. * NYMEX June RBOB RBM9 rose 1.03 cents, or 0.57 percent, to $1.81 a gallon, trading from $1.7985 to $1.8270. * NYMEX June heating oil HOM9 fell 1.33 cents, or 0.87 percent, to $1.5161 a gallon, trading from $1.4070 to $1.5441. * The July/July RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at $13.87. It ended at $13.37 on Thursday. The July/July heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $3.88. It ended at $4.29 on Thursday. * The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $14.54, based on the July 2014 contract settlement on Thursday at $75.54. The spread ended at $15.62 on Thursday. TECHNICALS NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $59.36/$56.45 Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $60.00/$62.00 NYMEX heating oil: $1.4635/$1.5730 NYMEX RBOB: $1.7674/1.8330 For a report on technicals click [ID:nLM426222] MARKET NEWS * OPEC plans to start its May 28 closed session to set output policy at 10 a.m. Vienna time (0800 GMT), a source familiar with the plans said. [ID:nLM175476] * OPEC ministers are expected to make no change to oil supply when they meet next week as higher prices ease their concerns about overflowing fuel inventories and the deepest fall in demand for years. [ID:nLM580270] * Oil refinery production in 16 European countries fell by 79,000 barrels per day in April, data from industry monitors Euroilstock showed on Friday. [ID:nLM010131]

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