UPDATE 6-Oil rises as euro and Wall Street gain

                                
 * U.S. stock market gains on banks, raw materials
                                
 * Euro broadly higher, short squeeze continues
                                
 * Coming up: US CFTC weekly report on oil positions
 (Recasts, updates prices, market activity; new dateline,
previously LONDON)
                                
 NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters) - Front-month U.S. crude prices
dipped on Friday, while the rest of the oil complex rose thanks
to gains in the stock market and a stronger euro.
                                
 The euro rose, heading for its first weekly gain versus the
U.S. dollar in six weeks, as investors who had bet the currency
would fall further bought it to prevent losses in case of
currency intervention. [USD/]
                                
 "The stock market and euro moved up and the crude market is
showing some early signs of stabilization," said Tom Bentz,
broker at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc in New York.
                                
 U.S. stocks added gains on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500
rising more than 1 percent, lifted by shares of banks and basic
materials companies. [.N]
                                
 Front-month U.S. crude for July delivery <CLc1>, battered
by record inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point
for the New York Mercantile Exchange, traded down 33 cents to
$70.47 a barrel at 12:36 p.m. EDT (1636 GMT).
                                
 August U.S. crude <CLc2> traded up 1 cent to $71.97 a
barrel, with later months also showing gains. ICE Brent crude
futures <LCOc1> rose 55 cents to $71.99 a barrel.
                                
 U.S crude has dropped sharply from the 19-month high $87 on
May 3, dragged by high U.S. inventories and a loss of
confidence in global markets due to the crisis in the euro zone
triggered by Greece's debt problems.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                
For a factbox on oil's choppiest sessions since 1983, see:
[ID:nSGE64K014]
  For a technical chart, see:
                                
 http://link.reuters.com/wav65k
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
                                
 U.S., CHINESE DEMAND
                                
 U.S. crude futures came under more pressure this week as
inventories rose still further at Cushing. [EIA/S]
[ID:nN20142515]
                                
 But U.S. government data released on Wednesday also showed
total product demand over the past four weeks rose 4.8 percent
from a year ago to 19.21 million bpd. [ID:nN19227314]
                                
 China's official data showed the country posted record
rates in refinery output and crude imports in April, following
seven months of double-digit growth in apparent oil demand.
[ID:nTOE64A00I]
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                
 For a factbox of bullish and bearish factors behind
 the oil price, click on [ID:nLDE64J0YT]
 For Reuters columnist John Kemp's view on the U.S. oil
market,
 click on: [ID:nLDE64K17O] [KEMP/]
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 (Reporting by Robert Gibbons, Gene Ramos and Matthew Robinson
in New York; Florence Tan in Singapore and Ikuko Kurahone in
London; Editing by David Gregorio)