PERTH, Dec 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices were steady on Monday after OPEC agreed to maintain current output levels at a weekend meeting in Ecuador. FUNDAMENTALS * U.S. crude for January slipped 10 cents to $87.69 a barrel at 0056 GMT. Prices ended lower on Friday, posting the first weekly loss in three as China raised bank reserve requirements to fight inflation. * China's headline inflation rose to a 28-month high of 5.1 percent in the year to November from 4.4 percent in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Saturday. Expectations that China could raise interest rates soon to cool its high-flying economy, a move that should dampen demand in the No. 1 energy consumer, have kept traders cautious. [ID:nBJL002113] * OPEC agreed to maintain output levels at a meeting in Quito, Ecuador on Saturday. The 12-member producer group has held its supply target steady since announcing a record output cut in December 2008. [ID:nN11148487] * OPEC forecast 2011 global oil demand growth would increase to 1.18 million bpd, only 10,000 bpd more than it predicted last month. Daily demand will average 87.11 million bpd next year, it said. [ID:nLDE6B90JO] * China's November crude oil imports jumped 22.1 percent from a year earlier to 5.09 million barrels per day, the fourth highest on record and rebounding from a 19-month low in October. [ID:nTOE6B902F] * The U.S. trade deficit narrowed much more than expected in October, as exports rose 3.2 percent and imports declined slightly amid slackening demand for industrial and petroleum products. [ID:nN09288102] * The International Energy Agency lifted its 2011 oil demand growth forecast by 130,000 bpd to 1.32 million bpd from its previous monthly report. [ID:nLDE6B90JO] * According to a Reuters technical analysis, U.S. oil is expected to retrace more to $85.99 per barrel, as a downward wave "c" progresses. Resistance will be at $88.30, only a rise above which could extend slightly higher to $89.40. [ID:nL3E6ND004] * U.S. data showed consumer sentiment rose more than expected in early December to the highest level in six months, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey, while the government said the country's trade deficit shrank much more than expected in October. MARKETS NEWS * The euro was expected to extend losses against the U.S. dollar next week as a meeting of European Union leaders will likely heighten concerns about deepening divisions within the bloc over how to solve its debt crisis. * Japan's Nikkei average turned negative after it opened nearly flat on Monday while some technical indicators still show that the Tokyo market is overheated. [ID:nTOE66S05Y] * China will keep the yuan basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level next year, state said on Sunday, citing a statement from an annual policy-setting economic conference. [ID:nBJA002356]

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