* U.S. May retail sales slip less than forecast
* China industrial output beats expectations
* Coming up: EIA oil data, 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday
* For news from the Reuters Global Energy and Climate
Summit: http://reut.rs/lEkAhj (Updates with trading volumes, API data paragraphs 7, 17-21)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Brent reached its highest in more than five weeks on Tuesday and U.S. crude rose more than 2 percent as data from China and the United States eased concerns about the global economy and the threat to oil demand.
China's industrial output in May beat market expectations with a 13.3 percent jump from a year earlier, though it slipped slightly from April. Inflation hit a 34-month high of 5.5 percent, but investors shrugged off another bank reserve hike by China's central bank. [ID:nB9E7GG00R] [ID:nL3E7HE1HL]
While U.S. retail sales fell in May for the first time in 11 months, the slip was less than expected. Producer prices rose less than expected, braking sharply from April. [ID:nN14189765]
Brent outpaced its U.S. counterpart in early trading and pushed the discount to Brent
Brent crude for July delivery
U.S. July crude
Crude trading volumes were mixed, with Brent volumes 23 percent above its 30-day average, while U.S. volumes were 10 percent under.
"There's a feeling that U.S. economic data will start to get better next month, and if you look at the retail sales data, if you take (out) autos, which were hit by the earthquake in Japan, they were actually up 0.3 percent," said Amrita Sen, oil analyst at Barclays Capital.
Adding to the positive sentiment in oil markets, the economic reports helped lift U.S. stocks more than 1 percent, drawing investors into an equities market that has had six straight weekly declines. [.N]
A weak dollar <.DXY> also lent support to dollar-denominated oil prices as the euro and high-yielding currencies were boosted by improved risk appetite after the Chinese data eased global growth concerns. [USD/]
"Today's sharp price advance appeared heavily influenced by financial drivers that included a further weakening in the dollar and pop of almost 1-1/2 percent in the (Dow Industrials)," Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois, said in a note.
U.S. gasoline
Lower retail prices attracted U.S. buyers, pushing demand up last week compared to the previous week and the year-ago period, according to a report from MasterCard. [ID:nN14226484]
CHINA'S OIL DEMAND
China's implied oil demand in May topped the 9 million barrel-per-day mark for the seventh consecutive month, taken as another signal that a tap on the economic brake by authorities had not hurt demand for petroleum.
But Reuters calculations based on preliminary government data did show that while May oil demand was up versus the year-ago period, the growth rate slowed to its lowest since October and demand slipped sightly from April. [ID:nL3E7HE0E4]
Copper prices rose to their highest in a week after the U.S. data consolidated gains made on the Chinese data. [MET/L]
U.S. OIL INVENTORIES
U.S. crude oil stocks fell 3 million barrels last week, with stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, oil hub falling 1.7 million barrels, according to a report from industry group American Petroleum Institute released late on Tuesday. [API/S]
Gasoline stocks rose 1.1 million barrels, distillate stocks slipped 426,000 barrels and refinery capacity use eased 0.2 percentage point to 84.5 percent, the API data showed.
Crude prices extended gains slightly in post-settlement trading after the report. [ID:nN14236060]
Crude stocks were expected to have fallen 1.5 million barrels last week, according to a Reuters survey of analysts ahead of the API report. Total distillate stocks and gasoline inventories were expected to have increased by 1 million barrels. [EIA/S]
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's inventory report will follow at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday. (Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York and Simon Falush and Barbara Lewis in London and Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson, David Gregorio and Sofina Mirza-Reid)