NYMEX-Crude steady after hitting 6-wk peak, China data eyed

SINGAPORE, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures steadied after a softer dollar pushed them to six-week highs on Monday, with investors waiting for Chinese manufacturing data for signs on the economic health of the world's second-largest oil consumer.

FUNDAMENTALS

* U.S. crude for May delivery hit an early peak of $97.80 a barrel, its highest since Feb. 13. By 0038 GMT, it was little changed at $97.04 versus Thursday's settlement of $97.23. U.S. markets were shut on Friday for the Easter holiday.

* West Texas Intermediate crude ended the first quarter with a nearly 6 percent gain, mostly spurred by upbeat U.S. data suggesting that the world's top economy and oil user is on the road to recovery.

* Brent crude was largely steady at $109.90 a barrel, after slipping 1 percent in January-March.

* China's factory activity likely expanded at its fastest rate in 11 months in March, with an anticipated pick-up in both domestic and external demand set to bolster the case that its economic recovery is gathering pace, not simply stabilising, a Reuters poll found.

* Japanese business sentiment improved in the first three months of 2013 after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's aggressive monetary and fiscal policy prescriptions helped to weaken the yen and bolster share prices.

* South Korea's manufacturing activity expanded in March at the strongest rate in a year as new export orders picked up, suggesting that the economy is starting to recover.

* Exxon Mobil continued cleanup of a pipeline spill that spewed thousands of barrels of heavy Canadian crude in Arkansas as opponents of oil sands development latched on to the incident to attack plans to build the Keystone XL line.

The United States sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea to join military drills aimed at underscoring the U.S. commitment to defend Seoul in the face of an intensifying campaign of threats from North Korea.

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian shares and the euro were steady but trading remained subdued with some Asian markets, including Australia and Hong Kong, and Europe still closed for Easter holidays.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0100 China Official manufacturing PMI

0145 China HSBC final manufacturing PMI

1400 U.S. Construction spending

1400 U.S. ISM manufacturing index

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Joseph Radford)