* Europe shares dip, Asia shrugs off weak Chinese data
* Oil jumps 2 percent after Goldman says market in deficit
* Yen dips vs dollar, helping Tokyo stocks higher
* Irish government debt outperforms after rating upgrade
* Wall St set to open flat to higher
By Nigel Stephenson
LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - European shares fell in subdued,
holiday-squeezed trade on Monday, unable to maintain the
momentum of Asian stocks that shrugged off sub-par Chinese
economic data to eke out modest gains.
Wall Street appeared set to open flat to marginally higher,
according to index futures. SPc1 ESc1 1YMc1
The yen fell against the dollar, helping Tokyo stocks
higher, while Irish government bonds outperformed other euro
zone sovereign debt, pushing borrowing costs to a one-month low
after the once bailed-out country regained its third investment
grade credit rating over the weekend.
Oil prices jumped more than 2 percent to their highest since
November, partly after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), one of the most bearish
forecasters on oil over the past year, raised its short-term
price outlook due to the effects of production outages. O/R
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 share index .FTEU3 fell
0.5 percent. Volume was constrained with the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange among Europeans bourses closed for a holiday. Britain's
FTSE 100 .FTSE dipped 0.3 percent.
The FTSEurofirst rose 0.6 percent on Friday after U.S.
retail sales recorded their biggest monthly rise in a
year.
Data from China over the weekend was less rosy. April's
retail sales, factory output and fixed-asset investment all fell
short of forecasts by economists polled by Reuters.
The numbers were not enough to prevent Chinese shares rising
on Monday, however. The blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 closed
up 0.7 percent and the Shanghai Composite .SSEC 0.8 percent.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.4 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI
added 0.8 percent and Australian stocks .AXJO rose 0.6
percent.
Tokyo's Nikkei .N225 climbed 0.3 percent on prospects of
more fiscal stimulus and on a weaker yen. Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe told parliament a majority of Group of Seven leaders agreed
more stimulus was needed to boost global demand.
The yen JPY= edged down 0.2 percent to 108.87 per dollar
and the euro EUR= rose 0.1 percent to $1.1319. The dollar was
flat against a basket of major currencies .DXY , having touched
a three-week high on Friday.
"We suspect that Japan will get a lot of private support
(from G7 members) for increasing quantitative easing," said Greg
Anderson, global head of strategy at BMO Capital Markets.
IRISH BONDS IN FAVOUR
In euro zone government bond markets, German 10-year yields
DE10YT-TWEB rose 0.6 basis points to 0.13 percent. Irish
yields IE10YT=TWEB , however, fell 2.3 bps to 0.8 percent after
Moody's Investor Services raised its credit rating to A3 from
Baa1. It maintained a positive outlook on Ireland, which entered
a three-year international bailout in 2011.
"The upgrade by Moody's expands the range of potential
buyers of Irish bonds. Some investors, particularly in Asia
require a minimum 'A' grade from all of the three big agencies,"
Cantor Fitzgerald strategist Ryan McGrath said.
Oil prices rose more than 2 percent after Goldman Sachs said
disruption to supply had seen the market flip into deficit. It
said U.S. crude CLc1 could trade as high as $50 per barrel in
the second half of 2016 although it cautioned the market would
return to surplus in the first half of next year.
Brent crude LCOc1 hit $48.90 per barrel, its highest price
since November. The international benchmark, which has risen
nearly 80 percent from lows touched in January, last traded at
$48.80, up 97 cents on the day.
The dollar's relative weakness helped lift copper prices.
The metal CMCU3 rose 0.4 percent to $4,64 per tonne, having
hit a 2-1/2-month low on Friday.
Gold XAU= rose 0.7 percent to $1,282 an ounce.