NYMEX-Crude dips on demand worry, dollar strength

* Euro slips vs dollar on debt worries

* China inflation continues to rise - report

* Coming up: EIA oil data, 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday

NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices slipped on Thursday as concerns about high prices eroding demand persisted and on the dollar's strength.

Oil prices edged lower after bouncing in choppy trading on Wednesday, snapping a two-day slide that was triggered by warnings of a price reversal by Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and by major forecasters concerns about high oil prices limiting demand growth and curbing economic growth.

Front-month Brent May crude also slipped, with the contract set to expire on Thursday.

FUNDAMENTALS

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May crude CLK1 fell 73 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $106.38 a barrel by 8:18 a.m. EDT (1218 GMT), trading from $106.07 to $107.60.

* Muammar Gaddafi's forces fired rockets into the besieged city of Misrata, rebels said, as diplomatic disputes over Western bombing in Libya continued. [ID:nLDE73D00A]

* Chinese inflation in March accelerated to as fast as 5.4 percent from a year earlier, Hong Kong media said, reinforcing the government's vow to rein in price rises. Economists polled by Reuters expected annual inflation in March to be 5.2 percent, up from February's 4.9 percent. China is set to release official first quarter GDP figures and March consumer price data on Friday. [ID:nL3E7FE0EO]

* Yemen's opposition rejected an offer to join Gulf-mediated talks on a transfer of power and set a two-week deadline for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step aside. [ID:nLDE73D0RP]

* Syrian authorities sought to defuse tensions in Banias by agreeing to withdraw the feared secret police from the restive coastal city replacing them with army patrols and to free imprisoned pro-democracy protesters. [ID:nLDE73D0LU]

MARKETS NEWS

* The euro slipped broadly, hitting a session low versus the dollar on market speculation that euro zone countries including Greece and Ireland may be forced to restructure their massive debts. [ID:nWEA4594] The dollar index .DXY was slightly stronger.

* Copper fell as reports of quickening inflation in top consumer China signaled more monetary tightening. [MET/L]

* Gold fell in the face of a rebounding dollar. [GOL/]

* European stocks fell on worries Greece would have to restructure its debt. [MKTS/GLOB] [FRX/]

UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS

* U.S. Labor Department releases March Producer Price Index. 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a 1 percent increase

following February's 1.6 percent rise.

* Labor reports first-time claims for jobless benefits for week ended April 9. 8:30 a.m. Economists forecast 380,000 new filings versus 382,000 in the prior week.

* U.S. Energy Information Administration natural gas storage data at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Thursday.

* May Brent crude LCOK1 contract expires on Thursday.

* U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission positions data at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT) on Friday.

8:18 LAST NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO

              CHNG   CHNG                      VOL      VOL
CLc1   106.38   -0.73  -0.7%  106.07  107.60   33,012  555,625
CLc2   106.97   -0.74  -0.7%  106.70  108.23   20,338  222,724
LCOc1  122.12   -0.76  -0.6%  121.93  123.40   14,074  118,986
RBc1   3.2236 -0.0188  -0.6%  3.2100  3.2560    2,175   53,482
RBc2   3.1981 -0.0181  -0.6%  3.1850  3.2260    1,355   35,966
HOc1   3.1833 -0.0196  -0.6%  3.1753  3.2245    2,950   66,712
HOc2   3.1951 -0.0210  -0.7%  3.1878  3.2383    1,842   47,404
 * NYMEX crude oil for May CLc1 fell 73 cents to $106.38 a barrel by 8:18
a.m. in volume of 33,012 lots.

(Source: