* Dollar firm after three-day shake-out of bullish positions
* Norwegian crown hit by surprise rate cut, weak oil prices
* Aussie on the defensive as RBA calls for 75 cents
* China data next in focus, Japan elections and FOMC also eyed
By Ian Chua and Tomo Uetake
SYDNEY/TOKYO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The dollar stayed firm against most of its major peers on Friday thanks in part to upbeat U.S. retail sales data, while nervousness over falling oil prices kept the Canadian dollar pinned near a five-year low.
Crude oil slid below $59 a barrel for the first time in 5-1/2 years, extending a sharp decline that prompted a surprise interest rate cut from the Norwegian central bank on Thursday.
The greenback climbed as high as 119.555 yen on Thursday, bouncing off a two-week low of 117.445, after a closely-watched report showed U.S. retail sales rose a forecast-beating 0.7 percent in November.
At 0430 GMT Friday, the dollar drifted to 118.550, down 0.1 percent from late U.S. levels.
The focus in Asia will be on a trio of economic data reports out of China, where any downside surprise will only add to calls for further easing there.
China will release its retail sales, industrial output and fixed-asset investment data for November at 0530 GMT.
The U.S. retail data provided fresh evidence of underlying momentum in the economy and highlighted the diverging outlooks between the United States and most of the developed world.
"Firm November data continues to point to a hawkish adjustment in forward guidance at next week's FOMC meeting and we expect this to keep the USD well supported into year-end," analysts at BNP Paribas wrote clients, referring to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Dec. 16-17.
The yen has been also pressured by expectations that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party is on track for a landslide victory in an election on Sunday. That would let him claim a fresh mandate for his economic revival policies, known as "Abenomics".
Still, the yen's failure to respond to sharp gains in Japanese shares on Friday suggested many players are now keen to take profits from their yen short positions, said chief trader at a Japanese brokerage.
"I suspect even if some chase the dollar/yen higher on the election outcome, speculators will come in immediately to take profits, probably shifting market focus to the Fed."
Japanese shares were up 1 percent at 0430 GMT Friday.
Unsurprisingly, the euro dipped back to $1.2370 from a near two-week high of $1.2496. It last traded at $1.2396, hovering near the 38.2 percent retracement level of its rise from $1.2247 to $1.2496 in the past few sessions.