By Alexander Kwiatkowski April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Oil traded little changed in New York as a stronger dollar dampened the investment appeal of commodities, offsetting signs of accelerating economic growth in China. The dollar recouped yesterday’s loss against the euro, damping the investment appeal of commodities. Oil rose 2.1 percent yesterday after the Energy Department said crude stockpiles in the U.S., the world’s biggest energy consumer, dropped 2.2 million barrels last week, the first decline in 11 weeks. Economic growth in China, the second-largest oil user, reached 11.9 percent in the first quarter. “After recent huge gains, some profit-taking seems to dominate now and the stronger dollar is also a factor,” said Andy Sommer, an analyst at EGL AG in Dietikon, Switzerland. “Today’s sentiment still seems bullish with strong economic statistics from China.” Crude oil for May delivery was down 23 cents at $85.61 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:35 p.m. London time. Yesterday, the contract rose $1.79, snapping a five-day decline. Brent crude oil for May, which expires today, rose as high as $87.20 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the highest since October 2008. The contract for June, the most actively traded month, was at $87.25 a barrel as of 1:34 p.m. in London. The dollar advanced to $1.3542 against the euro from $1.3653 yesterday in New York. ‘Seem Indecisive’ “Investors still seem indecisive on crude’s next move, with the market running ahead of itself at the start of the month,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst with VTB Capital in London. “The overall bullish sentiment is still there in the long run, but the end-of-March momentum has diminished.” U.S. gasoline demand increased 1.3 percent to 9.14 million barrels a day in the four weeks ended April 9, the biggest jump since August 2004, the Energy Department said. Crude inventories were drawn down as refinery utilization climbed to 85.6 percent of capacity, the highest since September, and imports slipped to a four-week low. Chinese refiners processed 34.56 million metric tons of crude in March, 18 percent more than the same month last year, according to China Mainland Marketing Research Co., which compiles data for the government. That’s the highest level after volumes reached 34.6 million tons in December. OPEC and the International Energy Agency this week cut their estimates for the amount of crude the producer group will need to pump this year as non-OPEC supplies rise more than anticipated. The revisions “imply a softer market that expected last month,” said Sommer of EGL. “This softening could temporarily disrupt the trend of gradual reduction in the global inventory overhang.” --With assistance from Ben Sharples in Melbourne and Yee Kai Pin in Singapore. Editors: John Buckley, Rob Verdonck

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