By Joe Brock
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose more than $1 to above $43 a barrel on Thursday encouraged by strong loan data from China, which investors speculated could feed through into economic growth, and ahead of an OPEC meeting.
U.S. light crude rose $1.21 to $43.54 a barrel by 1540 GMT (11:40 a.m. EDT). London Brent crude gained 70 cents to $42.10.
On Wednesday, oil fell more than 7 percent as a bigger than expected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories and a slump in Chinese oil imports triggered a wave of selling.
Now traders have focused on news of higher than expected Chinese lending and the meeting of ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna on Sunday.
The producer group, the source of about a third of global crude oil supply, is widely expected to talk about compliance with its existing output cuts rather than further reductions.
But some members, such as Iraq and Kuwait, have said an additional cut might be necessary.
Saudi Arabia, the biggest and most influential of the 12-member group, is among those that believe it is too soon to agree new output targets, sources have said.
"There is lots of repositioning going on ahead of the OPEC meeting. If the market is sold off a lot it might pressure the OPEC to agree on another cut," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix.
"China is always a market driver, although there are still some conflicting data. We have to be wary about getting into a trap of negative data."
The latest figures from China showed industrial output growth slowed to a record low at the start of the year, weighing on global markets.
But data showing a continued surge in bank lending in China in February fed optimism that activity could soon rebound.
Showing similarly mixed signals, China's daily refinery output fell 2.3 percent in February from a year ago, but it was at its fastest rate in four months.
Mixed signals also came from the United States. The stock market rose for a third straight day on a reassuring report on February retail sales.
On the other hand, caution about the labor market kept gains in check as weekly jobless claims data showed a record high number of workers drawing state jobless benefits.
(Additional reporting by Maryelle Demongeot in Singapore and Ikuko Kao in London; Editing by Anthony Barker)
