Friday, July 1, 2011

20110701 1245 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS: Asian equities edge higher on Greece
SINGAPORE, July 1 (Reuters) - Asian equities edged higher on Friday, getting a lift as fears of an imminent default by Greece receded, while the euro lost some steam after rallying to a three-week high the previous day.    
Data on Thursday showing that factory activity in the   U.S. Midwest accelerated in June also helped lift equities, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei average rising 0.6 percent, and South Korean shares climbing 1 percent.

OIL: Brent posts biggest quarterly drop in a year
NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - Brent crude futures finished slightly higher in seesaw trading on Thursday, with investors concerned about violence in Greece and uncertainty surrounding the IEA's emergency oil release plan.
"With U.S. trade winding down for the end of the quarter and the July 4th holiday coming up, we may be seeing some pause in frantic activity, with traders less willing to open new positions," analyst Tim Evans of Citi Futures Perspective said.

NATURAL GAS: Natural gas ends up on EIAs, down sharply in June
NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - Front-month U.S. natural gas futures ended higher on Thursday, but in June suffered their  biggest monthly loss since October, as record high production continued to weigh on sentiment despite decent demand.
"We were up today in response to the lower than expected storage number, and we could see some short covering tomorrow ahead of the long holiday weekend. It's going to be very hot," a Pennsylvania trader said, referring to the U.S. Independence Day holiday on Monday.

EURO COAL: Calm but braced for more prompt South African
LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal values were little changed on Thursday after a day of quiet trading.
Few utilities in Europe need fresh coal despite increased coal burn and few Indian or Chinese enquiries were reported.
However, increased availability of prompt South African coal for July and August is expected to put more downward pressure on prices.

COMMODITIES: Biggest quarterly loss since '08; grains slide
NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - Commodities posted the largest quarterly loss since the 2008 financial crisis, and ended June on the defensive after a plunge in grain prices on Thursday.
"It's a bit like automakers who offer incentives to buy. People get hooked on them, and before one program ends, they're thinking about when the next one will come along," said Gregory Whiteley, portfolio manager at DoubleLine Capital, a Los Angeles-based fund with some $12 billion in assets.

Govt expects to sell all 30 mln barrels SPR oil-US official
WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. government expects to sell all 30 million barrels of oil it offered in an auction this week from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and is prepared to take more action to ensure oil supplies are adequate to meet demand, an administration official told Reuters on Thursday.
"The oversubscription of the SPR auction indicates both that supply disruption is a factor and that we will be able to place all 30 million barrels into the market," the official said. "We will continue to monitor the adequacy of oil supply and are prepared to act further if necessary."

OPEC June output rises, yet to offset Libya
LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - OPEC oil output is expected to remain lower in June than before the conflict in Libya largely shut down its oil industry, despite extra supply from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf members, a Reuters survey found on Thursday.
Supply from all 12 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to average 29.45 million barrels per day (bpd) this month, up from a revised 29.1 million bpd in May, the survey of  

OPEC exports to fall in 4 weeks to July 16 -analyst
Seaborne oil exports from OPEC, excluding Angola and Ecuador, will fall by 160,000 barrels in the four weeks to July 16, an analyst who estimates future shipments forecast on Thursday.
Exports will fall to 22.70 million barrels per day (bpd) on average from 22.86 million bpd in the four weeks to June 18, UK consultancy Oil Movements said in its latest weekly estimate.
 
Oil stock release looks chaotic, could backfire
LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Just a week after the West's energy watchdog announced the release of millions of barrels of oil, forcing a drop in the oil market, prices are almost back to where they were and analysts say the policy is chaotic and could backfire.
Far from depressing prices and rescuing a fragile economic recovery in the industrialised world, the release of strategic oil stocks is piling more misery on refiners, and has raised expectations of increased supply that may not be realised.

No comments: