NYMEX-Crude slips from '09 peak as Wall St. slides

* Wall St down as tech shares off, outweighs banks

* Euro gains versus the dollar as ECB cuts rates

NEW YORK, May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures slipped on
Thursday, retreating as Wall Street weakened and prompted
profit taking after oil hit a fresh 2009 peak on optimism about
the economy and the dollar's weakness against the euro.

U.S. stocks extended losses, pulling the Nasdaq down almost
3 percent, after a government bond auction drew a poor response
and investors worried the rising costs of capital could hamper
the economy's recovery. [.N]

"The S&P turnaround caused some profit taking in the oil
market. The things driving this market, the economic optimism,
haven't changed so it may be the market just catching its
breath," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in
Stamford, Connecticut.

Earlier, crude oil and equities were boosted by
better-than-expected U.S. jobless claims data, coming after
Wednesday's report of slowing private sector job losses in
April.[ID:nN07289463]

Traders also had noted that oil and other commodities have
benefited from the recent inflow of big fund investments, as
they detect the current economic downturn bottoming out.

"Frantic buying stops abruptly, followed by frantic selling
usually accompanied on a day with a new high," said Mike
Fitzpatrick, vice president at MF Global in New York.

Refined products also were volatile, with gasoline
strongest as the U.S. summer driving season approaches.

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:07 p.m. EDT
(1807 GMT), June crude CLM9 was down 21 cents, or 0.37
percent, at $56.13 a barrel, trading from $55.50 to $58.57, the
highest intraday price since $58.98 was struck on Nov. 17.

* In London, June Brent crude LCOM9 was down 20 cents,
0.36 percent, at $55.95 a barrel, trading from $55.45 to
$58.22.

* NYMEX June RBOB RBM9 rose 2.05 cents, or 1.26 percent,
to $1.6485 a gallon, trading from $1.6240 to $1.7096, the
highest since prices hit $1.75 on Oct. 21.

* NYMEX June heating oil HOM9 was near flat, down 0.11
cents, or 0.07 percent, at $1.4702 a gallon, trading from
$1.4555 to $1.5327.

* The June/June RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at
$13.13. It ended at $12.04 on Wednesday. The June/June heating
oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $5.58. It ended at $5.45 on
Wednesday.

* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $19.41, based
on the June 2014 contract's Wednesday settlement at $75.54. The
spread ended at $19.20 on Wednesday.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $52.94/$51.08

Technical support/resistance:

NYMEX crude: $54.65/$60.00

NYMEX heating oil: $1.4320/$1.5110

NYMEX RBOB: $1.5860/1.6720

For a report on technicals click [ID:nL71001852]

MARKET NEWS

* The EIA said U.S. natural gas storage rose 95 billion
cubic feet last week, slightly above the 93 bcf build forecast
in a Reuters analyst poll. [ID:nEIA000807]

* The euro hit a one-month high against the dollar on
growing optimism about the world economy and as the European
Central Bank cut interest rates and set a modest asset-buying
plan. [USD/]

* The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless
aid unexpectedly fell by 34,000 last week, to a seasonally
adjusted 601,000, the Labor Department said. [ID:nN07289463]

* Kuwait halted exports of crude oil and products on
Thursday due to bad weather, a spokesman for state refiner
Kuwait National Petroleum Co said. [ID:nL7976336]
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Christian Wiessner)