* Oil hits five-week low as equities fall, dollar rises
* Societe Generale says oil expected to average $60 in July
* Nigerian militants say attacked Chevron, Shell oil sites
(Previous PERTH, updates prices)
LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - Oil fell to a five-week low near
$64 a barrel on Monday, pressured by doubts over the prospects
of an early global economic recovery and a firmer dollar.
The U.S. jobless rate reached a 26-year high and Euro zone
unemployment is at the highest in a decade, reports showed last
week. The dollar rose on Monday, limiting the appeal of oil as
an alternative investment.
"Two major pieces of data will be remembered from the past
week, the UK economy shrank by 2.4 percent, the biggest
contraction since 1958, and the unemployment figure from the
U.S.," said Stefano Vincelli, an equities and derivatives trader
at Halifax Investments in Sydney.
"Overall, the supply and demand picture for crude is still a
bearish number."
U.S. crude <CLc1> fell $2.47 from Thursday's close to $64.26
a barrel by 0748 GMT. It traded as low as $64.11, the lowest
intraday price since May 28. Brent crude <LCOc1> fell $1.51 from
Friday's close to $64.10.
NYMEX floor trading was closed on Friday because of the U.S.
Independence Day holiday, and although oil traded electronically
the exchange did not issue an official closing price.
Adding to pressure on oil, European stocks <.EU> got off to
a weaker start on Monday following on from losses in Asia.
Investors will focus later this week on a meeting of the G8
industrial nations. The summit was expected to highlight signs
that economies were stabilising, but emphasise that it was too
early yet to withdraw policy stimulus.
Societe Generale said the correction in oil prices, which
surged 42 percent in the last quarter, was long anticipated and
predicted that oil prices would continue falling and average
around $60 a barrel in July.
"Non-fundamental price support, based on economic optimism,
risk appetite, and increasing medium to long-term inflation
expectations, has faded for now," Michael Wittner of SG said in
a research note.
Attacks on oil installations in Nigeria, traditionally
Africa's top oil producer, could limit losses.
Chevron, Shell and Italian energy firm Agip <ENI.MI> have
cut oil output by around 273,000 barrels per day in the last six
weeks following the latest campaign of militant violence.
(Reporting by Fayen Wong in Perth and Alex Lawler in London)
