Oil rebounded from its lowest in a month in New York after U.S. retail sales data indicated American consumers are overcoming elevated gasoline costs. Sales at retailers fell 0.2 percent in May, less than economists estimated, figures from the Commerce Department in Washington showed today. Crude fell earlier as China, the world’s largest energy user, ordered lenders to set aside more cash as reserves after inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in almost three years. Crude for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 31 cents at $97.62 a barrel at 1:49 p.m. London time, after falling as low as $96.51. The contract yesterday declined $1.99, or 2 percent, to $97.30, the lowest settlement since May 17. Futures have gained 30 percent in the past year. Brent oil for July delivery was up 90 cents at $120 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The front-month European benchmark contract was at a premium of $22.38 to U.S. futures after reaching a record $22.72 earlier. To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss on sev@bloomberg.net

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