Wednesday, September 14, 2011

20110914 1821 FCPO EOD Daily Chart Study.

FCPO closed : 3065, changed : +46 points, volume : higher.
Bollinger band reading : side way range bound little upside biased.
MACD Histrogram : resume higher, buyer in little advantage. 
Support : 3050, 3020, 2970, 2950 level.
Resistance : 3070, 3100, 3150, 3200 level.
Comment :
FCPO closed recorded gains snapping back yesterday loss with increasing volume changed hand while overnight soy oil ended little weaker and currently trading lower while crude oil currently pullback lower after yesterday gains. 
Choppy market traded today ahead of tomorrow export data and Indonesia new palm olein export tax structure to start effective tomorrow. 
Daily chart formed an up bar candle with lower shadow closed near upper Bollinger band level after market opened unchanged, slide lower tested near support level and recovered upwards to near unchanged level before last 30 minutes buying activities plus short covering pushed price higher to closed at the high of the day. 
chart reading switched to suggesting a side way range bound little upside biased market development testing support and resistance level.  
When to buy : buy at support or weakness with quick cut loss and profit target.
When to sell : sell at resistant or strength with quick cut loss and profit target. 

20110914 1729 FKLI EOD Daily Chart Study.


FKLI closed : 1433, changed : -1.5 point, volume : higher.
Bollinger band reading : downside biased.
MACD Histrogram : falling, seller taking position.
Support : 1425, 1405, 1395, 1385 level.
Resistance : 1445, 1458, 1470, 1485 level.
Comment :
FKLI closed recorded small loss with better volume exchanged doing 4.5 points discount compare to cash market that ended lower. Overnight U.S. market climbed higher and Asia markets ended mixed while European markets currently trading higher.
European markets moving higher on bargain hunting as stock valuation is cheap relative to other asset classes while Asia market ended mixed as Chinese Premier Wen signaled developed nations should cut deficits and create jobs rather than relying on China to bail out the world economy and the quote “Countries must first put their own houses in order”.
Daily chart formed a down doji bar candle closed near lower Bollinger band level after market higher, edge upwards tested little above resistance level and fall lower into negative zone before recovered upward partially to closed off the low of the day.
chart reading remained suggesting downside biased market development testing support and resistance level.
When to buy : buy at support or weakness with quick cut loss and profit target.
When to sell : sell at resistance or strength with quick cut loss and profit target.

20110914 1708 Regional Markets EOD Daily Chart Study.

DJIA chart reading : side way range bound little downside biased.
 Hang Seng chart reading :  side way range bound little downside biased.
KLCI chart reading : downside biased.

20110914 1700 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

Stocks fall as euro crisis saps confidence
SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Asian stocks, U.S. index futures and the euro fell as investors remained unconvinced that euro zone leaders have a coherent plan to tackle the bloc's sovereign debt problems, which many fear could trigger a new banking crisis.
"Some of the European banks may have to recapitalise their balance sheets with government assistance. It's creating a lot of nervousness and uncertainty," said Simon Bonouvrie, portfolio manager at Platypus Asset Management in Sydney.

World Must Cut Deficits, Not Rely on China: Wen (Bloomberg)
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, facing calls to widen support for indebted European countries, signaled that developed nations should cut deficits and create jobs rather than relying on China to bail out the world economy. “Countries must first put their own houses in order,” Wen said today at the World Economic Forum in the Chinese city of Dalian. “Developed countries must take responsible fiscal and monetary policies. What is most important now is to prevent the further spread of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.” Stocks dropped in Asia as Wen's comments damped optimism that China can help stabilize the euro-region, after Italy this month followed Spain, Portugal and Greece in seeking Chinese investment. Wen said that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is spreading, and a former adviser to China's central bank said the nation should avoid buying bonds from European countries where leaders and central bankers are in disarray.

European Stocks Gain; U.S. Futures Pare Drop (Bloomberg)
European stocks rose, erasing earlier losses, amid speculation China may still offer support for the region even after Premier Wen Jiabao said countries must not rely on bailouts. U.S. index futures pared their retreat and Asian shares dropped. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.8 percent to 222.56 at 8:54 a.m. in London, having earlier lost as much as 1 percent. The index has still plunged 24 percent from this year’s peak in February as the debt crisis spreads from Greece to the larger economies of Italy, Spain and France.
MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.7 percent today to its lowest since August last year. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures declined 0.1 percent, having earlier retreated as much as 1.5 percent. China is still willing to buy bonds of nations hit by the debt crisis, Caijing reported on its website, citing Zhang Xiaoqiang, a vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.

FOREX-Euro clings to gains on short-covering
TOKYO/SYDNEY, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The euro held on to modest gains, as hedge funds trimmed short positions in case EU leaders surprised markets by making progress on Greece's debt crisis in a conference call later in the day, though they said they were not holding their breath on this.
"I wouldn't read too much into today's moves. It's short-covering after the currency has fallen a lot recently. With no solution to Europe's problems in sight, the euro remains vulnerable," said Tsutomu Soma, manager of foreign securities at Okasan Securities.

CoffeeNetwork sees record 2012/13 global crop
ANTWERP, Belgium, Sept 13 (Reuters) - World 2012/13 coffee output is expected to reach a record 142 million 60-kg bags, up from 135 million the previous year, analysis firm CoffeeNetwork said on Tuesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Coffee Outlook Conference, CoffeeNetwork analyst Andrea Thompson said the next crops from top world producers Brazil and Vietnam were expected to be at record levels.

Libya buys more Russian wheat
LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Libya has bought 100,000 tonnes of Russian milling wheat in recent weeks and will need a further 500,000 tonnes of wheat in the coming months as it recovers from months of war, a trading company involved in Libyan grain deals told Reuters.
Libya was a big importer of food before six months of fighting interrupted supply chains. The ruling interim council is struggling to assert its control over the entire country and capture a handful of stubbornly defended towns that still back ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Australia's wheat exports to Indonesia seen rising
JAKARTA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Australia's wheat exports to Indonesia are expected to rise around 30 percent in the year to September, with better growing conditions giving suppliers a bigger foothold in vital Asian markets, Wheat Exports Australia (WEA) said on Tuesday.
Indonesia, which relies entirely on icornmports for its wheat, currently gets around 60 percent of its supplies from Australia, with Canada and the United States accounting for about 30 percent.

US corn, wheat tick higher after selloff; soy dips
SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Chicago grains edged higher with corn recovering from a 4-week low and wheat rising 0.3 percent after sliding to its lowest in more than a month in the last session, amid concerns over declining demand for U.S. supplies.
"Yesterday, we saw a sharp selloff in corn and wheat and in early trading for today there is some bargain hunting as corn supplies are tight," said Lynette Tan, an analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Argentine 2011/12 soy crop seen at 52-53 mln T
ROSARIO, Argentina, Sept 13 (Reuters) -  Argentina's 2011/12 soy harvest is expected at 52 million to 53 million tonnes and this season's corn crop is seen at about 30 million tonnes, Agriculture Secretary Lorenzo Basso told Reuters on Tuesday.
Argentina is the world's No. 1 exporter of soyoil and soymeal, as well as the third-largest global supplier of soybeans. The South American country is also the No. 2 corn exporter after the United States.

Argentina to authorize 11/12 corn exports 7-8 mln T
ROSARIO, Argentina, Sept 13 (Reuters) -  Argentina will authorize 2011/12 corn exports of between 7 and 8 million tonnes, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Oscar Solis told Reuters on Tuesday.
The South American country could also approve 2010/11 corn exports of between 1 and 1.5 million tonnes, Solis said.
Argentina is the world's No. 2 corn exporter after the United States.

Canada farm department adjusts crop estimates
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Canada's farm department raised its harvest forecast for wheat and lowered it for canola to match Aug. 24 forecasts by Statistics Canada.
Agriculture Canada released its grain and oilseed outlook, which is based on analysis not a farmer survey, on Tuesday.

Brazil 11/12 cotton output seen higher - trade group
SAO PAULO, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Farmers in Brazil may cut area planted to cotton next season due to competition from soy and corn but output could rise as production focuses on choice fields, Brazilian cotton exporters' association Anea said.
Cotton competes for land with soy and corn in Brazil's main summer crop, and persistently high prices for the grains could mean less available area for production of the lint.

Colombia '11 main coffee crop may be hit by rains
BOGOTA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Colombia's main coffee harvest later this year may be hit by heavier-than-normal rains due to the reappearance of La Nina, throwing into doubt growers' production targets, officials and industry players said.
Colombia's coffee production fell through the first half of 2011 after heavy rains caused by the La Nina weather anomaly hit crops during their vital flowering stage last year, and now farmers fear a return of the weather phenomena.

Brazil coffee crop seen record for off-year--gov't
SAO PAULO, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's 2011/12 coffee crop forecast was slightly reduced on Tuesday by the Agriculture Ministry's crop supply agency Conab, but the output would still be the highest ever for an off-year harvest.
The crop was estimated at 43.15 million 60-kg bags, down from the 43.5 million bags projected in May, Conab said in its third forecast of the current crop that recently ended harvest.

Russia 2011/12 grain exports may exceed 20 mln T
Sept 13 (Reuters) - Russian grain exports in the current 2011/12 crop year may exceed 20 million tonnes, a senior government official said on Tuesday, roughly in line with estimates from SovEcon analysts who expect the record pace in recent months to tail off after October.  
"We believe that 20 million tonnes is not a limit (for exports)," First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov told a teleconference with regional officials.  

US soy at risk of damage from forecast freeze
CHICAGO, Sept 13 (Reuters) - A crop-damaging freeze was expected in the U.S. Midwest this week, raising more concerns about the harvest potential of crops that have suffered through adverse weather conditions since spring planting.
The immature soybean crop in the Midwest was most at risk to damage from the cold snap, which was forecast to arrive about two to 2-1/2 weeks earlier than usual.

Oil falls as market seen capped by Europe crisis
SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Oil fell pulling U.S. crude off six-week highs, as the dollar strengthened and investors saw little upside from declining inventories in an environment where the euro zone debacle is overshadowing tightening supply.
"Fundamentally, this market should be declining further," Hasegawa said. "We are seeing a decline in inventories, but that is not a serious matter, while the financial markets are a very concerning matter. There is no reason for crude to go higher, so we are seeing profit taking."

EU plans ban on new investment in Syrian oil
BRUSSELS, Sept 13 (Reuters) - European Union governments reached a preliminary agreement on Tuesday to ban European companies from making new investments in Syrian oil exploration, production and refining industries, EU diplomats said.
Pending final approval, the latest round of Europe's economic sanctions against the government of President Bashar al-Assad could go into effect next week, they said.

Miners look to reforms to boost Philippine mining
MANILA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Investment opportunities in a bullish metals market and reforms to perk up the Philippine mining industry will dominate talks at this week's industry conference, but policy flip-flops are expected to remain a hot issue distracting investors.
The ban on open-pit mining in South Cotabato in the southern Mindanao region and the mining moratorium by local governments in other provinces, despite an investor-friendly national law, continue to worry business groups, analysts say.  

China's steel output dip in Aug, Baosteel up Oct prices
SHANGHAI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - China's crude steel output fell 0.9 percent to 58.75 million tonnes in August from the previous month as several steel mills reduced production due to maintenance, official figures showed.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed that China's daily crude steel output fell below 1.9 million tonnes for the first single month this year, with the mills scheduling maintenance to take advantage of weak consumption season over the summer period.

Guinea launches mining contract review
CONAKRY, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Guinea will launch a nationwide review of mining contracts to root out "unconscionable provisions" granted by previous rulers, and has toned down Chinese involvement in the resource sector, Mines Minister Mohamed Lamine Fofana told Reuters.
The move comes after the West African state, the world's top supplier of the aluminum ore bauxite and whose iron ore reserves have drawn billions of dollars in investments, passed a new mining code that more than doubles the state share in projects.

China refined copper, lead concentrate output at record
SHANGHAI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - China's refined copper and lead concentrate production hit record highs in August due to steady restocking by copper users and a ramp-up in battery output.
Lead concentrates, the raw material for refined lead, saw a massive jump in production in August, up more than 345 percent versus July levels and 407 percent on the year to a record of 953,000 tonnes, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

Copper down as euro zone debt crisis weighs
SHANGHAI, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Copper prices lost their early upward momentum after the euro slipped as investors worried about the slow handling of Europe's sovereign debt problems, which many fear could trigger a new banking crisis.
"China's output data shows that copper users are still stocking up steadily and buying on dips," said Jinrui Futures analyst Zhao Kai.

METALS-Copper down as euro zone debt crisis weighs
SHANGHAI, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Copper prices lost their early upward momentum, after the euro slipped as investors worried about the slow handling of Europe's sovereign debt problems, which many fear could trigger a new banking crisis.
"China's output data shows that copper users are still stocking up steadily and buying on dips," said Jinrui Futures analyst Zhao Kai.

PRECIOUS-Gold steady on euro zone woes; dollar weighs
SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady, as investors flocked to bullion for safe haven from fears of crisis contagion in Europe while technical weakness and a strong dollar weighed on prices.
"Technically we are running into a challenging situation over the next 2-3 days, as the uptrend from the beginning of July faces a short-term correction," said Dominic Schnider, head of commodity research of UBS Wealth Management in Singapore.

Gold steady on euro zone woes; dollar weighs
SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady as investors flocked to bullion for safe haven from fears of crisis contagion in Europe while technical weakness and a strong dollar weighed on prices.
"Technically we are running into a challenging situation over the next 2-3 days, as the uptrend from the beginning of July faces a short-term correction," said Dominic Schnider, head of commodity research of UBS Wealth Management in Singapore.

20110914 1403 Global Market & Palm Oil Related News.

Malaysian palm exports to suffer after Indonesia cuts taxes
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Malaysia's palm oil exports for the rest of 2011 will be flat at best with a negative outlook for next year as refiners are at a price disadvantage after No.1 producer Indonesia slashed refined palm olein export taxes, a top industry official said. Palm Oil Refiners Association of Malaysia (PORAM) Chief Executive Mohammad Jaaffar Ahmad said Indonesia's tax change from Sept. 15 will cut production costs for Indonesian refiners, who could enjoy a price advantage of $72-$129 a tonne. While No.2 producer Malaysia does not tax its processed palm oil exports, its costs have risen due to tight crude palm oil supplies that it usually supplements with imports from Indonesia. With Indonesia more than halving its refined palm oil export taxes and keeping crude palm oil taxes virtually unchanged, more of the edible oil gets channeled to its plants, limiting supply for Malaysia and raising feedstock costs.
"The new Indonesian duty differential is a final wake up call for Malaysia to re-look at our export policy," Mohammad told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. "We do not have the luxury of time to wait before we lose all our market share that we have built over the years," he added.

Moody's downgrades Credit Agricole, SocGen ratings by one notch
(Reuters) - Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday downgraded credit ratings on Credit Agricole SA (CASA) and Societe Generale SA by one notch, citing their exposure to the Greek economy. Moody's cut SocGen's debt and deposit ratings by one notch to Aa3 from Aa2. The outlook on the long-term debt ratings was negative. Moody's anticipated that the impact of its review on the Bank Financial Strength Rating (BFSR) would be limited to a one-notch downgrade. For Credit Agricole, Moody's downgraded its BFSR by one notch to C from C+, and cut its long-term debt and deposit ratings by one notch to Aa2 from Aa1.

Obama Approval Plummets on Doubts Over Jobs Plan (Bloomberg)
A majority of Americans don’t believe President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan will help lower the unemployment rate, skepticism he must overcome as he presses Congress for action and positions himself for re- election. The downbeat assessment of the American Jobs Act reflects a growing and broad sense of dissatisfaction with the president. Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy by 62 percent to 33 percent, a Bloomberg National Poll conducted Sept. 9-12 shows. The disapproval number represents a nine point increase from six months ago. The president’s job approval rating also stands at the lowest of his presidency -- 45 percent. That rating is driven down in part by a majority of independents, 53 percent, who disapprove of his performance.

Retail Sales in U.S. Probably Rose at Slower Pace as Employment Stagnated (Bloomberg)
Retail sales in the U.S. probably rose in August at the slowest pace in three months as a lack of jobs restrained shoppers, economists said before a report today. The 0.2 percent rise would follow a 0.5 percent increase in July, according to the median forecast of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. A separate report may show inflation at the wholesale level cooled last month. Chains like J.C. Penney Co. and Target Corp. (TGT) are among those saying a stagnant labor market that’s battered confidence is hurting sales. The dim outlook for household spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, means it will be harder for the two-year old economic recovery to gain speed.
“Consumers are not spending all that much,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “People are nervous about the economic recovery and they’re stretched for money.”

Fed set to give economy therapy, not shock treatment
(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve, facing rising global financial strains and recession fears, is poised to increase downward pressure on longer-term interest rates next week in a bid to accelerate a sputtering U.S. recovery. With one eye on escalating debt turmoil in Europe and another on a stubbornly high 9.1 percent U.S. unemployment rate, the Fed, whose policy panel meets next Tuesday and Wednesday, looks set to begin shifting the composition of its balance sheet to weight it more heavily with longer-term securities. Having taken short-term interest rates to near zero and bloated its balance sheet with bond purchases that topped $2 trillion, analysts say the U.S. central bank is looking for smaller-bore ways to increase its support, such as shifting its holdings away from shorter-term debt.

Geithner Takes Tougher Tone on Europe (Bloomberg)
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will urge European governments to step up their crisis- fighting efforts amid Obama administration concerns that the region’s woes may hurt the U.S. economy. Geithner will press European Union finance ministers when he meets with them this week, a euro-area official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because preparations for the meeting, which takes place in Wroclaw, Poland, on Sept. 16 and 17, are confidential. It will be the first time Geithner has attended a session of Europe’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council, known as Ecofin. “The U.S. has always been discretely preoccupied and discretely present, and now it’s starting to be intensely preoccupied and intensely present,” said Nicolas Veron, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based economics research group.

China Must Avoid Loans to ‘Troubled’ Nations: Yu (Bloomberg)
China shouldn’t buy bonds issued by individual euro-area countries because their leaders and the European Central Bank are in disarray, said Yu Yongding, a former adviser to China’s central bank. “China has to wait until it can see a clearer road map by euro countries for solving sovereign-debt problems,” Yu, who is based in Beijing, said in e-mailed comments today. The nation is not a lender of last resort for “troubled countries,” he added. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said yesterday that officials from Russia, India, China and South Africa will discuss next week ways to help Europe overcome its debt crisis. Italy is struggling to avoid a collapse in investor confidence and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that an “uncontrolled insolvency of Greece” would roil markets.

China, U.S. raise alarm over euro debt crisis
(Reuters) - China and the United States urged Europe's leaders to prevent the euro area debt mess from spreading, underlining the international alarm over a crisis now threatening Italy, the zone's third-biggest economy. President Barack Obama urged "more effective coordinated fiscal policy" by the euro area states. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Beijing was willing to help its biggest trading partner, but added that Europe must stop the crisis from growing. Investors are increasingly skeptical the debt debacle in the 17-nation currency area can be resolved. Credit markets are factoring in a 90 percent chance Greece will default on its debts and they demanded the highest risk premium on Italian five-year bonds at auction on Tuesday since the country joined the euro in 1999.

20110914 1109 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

Asia Stocks Fall as China Says World Must Get ‘Houses in Order’ Before Aid (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks fell after China’s Premier Wen Jiabao said economies “must put their own houses in order” and a former Chinese central-bank adviser said the nation shouldn’t buy bonds from troubled European nations. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index earlier swung between gains and losses after French lenders dismissed concerns over their access to funds, easing concern that Europe’s debt crisis may lead to a freezing of credit markets. Samsung Electronics Co. led technology shares lower after Apple Inc. won backing from a German court for a ban on sales of a Samsung product in the country. Tokyo Electric Power Co. slumped 3.9 percent on speculation Japan’s new trade minister may take a tougher stance on power monopolies.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7 percent to 117.46 as of 11:52 a.m. in Tokyo after earlier rising as much as 0.3 percent. The measure slumped 8.6 percent last month, the most since May 2010, amid concern global economic growth is slowing as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis spreads and after Standard & Poor’s cut the U.S. government’s credit rating.


Asian Stocks Gain on Easing Europe Concern (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks swung between gains and losses as oil companies advanced on higher crude prices, countering declines by Japanese utilities. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Australia’s No. 1 oil producer, climbed 0.6 percent in Sydney after crude prices advanced, while Chinese oil explorer Cnooc Ltd. gained 2.2 percent in Hong Kong. Wynn Macau Ltd. jumped 4.4 percent after a brokerage boosted the stock’s investment rating. Tokyo Electric Power Co. slumped 3.9 percent on speculation Japan’s new trade minister may take a tougher stance on power monopolies, leading utilities lower. Korean Air Lines Co. fell 3.1 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its rating on the stock.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 percent to 118.04 as of 11:11 a.m. in Tokyo after earlier rising and falling as much as 0.3 percent. The measure slumped 8.6 percent last month, the most since May 2010, amid concern global economic growth is slowing as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis spreads and after Standard & Poor’s cut the U.S. government’s credit rating.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Caution grips markets as euro zone talks eyed
SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - A rebound in Asian stocks and the euro stalled and gold edged up on Wednesday as investors waited for convincing signs of progress on taming the euro zone debt crisis.
"Developments in Europe are sending mixed signals, and this will likely keep investors at bay," said Y.S. Rhoo, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities.

Brent crude slips, demand outlook weighs
NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Brent crude prices slipped on Tuesday, dragged down by spread selling and a downward revision to the International Energy Agency's forecast for growth in global oil consumption due to the struggling economy.
"Brent crude and the U.S. product markets are weaker, on demand concerns reinforced by an (IEA) monthly report that trimmed demand," Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citi Futures  Perspective in New York, said in a note.

Japan to start buying LNG from U.S. by 2015-Nikkei
Sept 14 (Reuters) - Japan plans to start importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States as early as 2015 to secure a steady supply amid growing demand for the fuel, Nikkei business daily reported.
Japan's Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Seishu Makino will meet U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu in San Francisco on Tuesday and ask him to allow Japanese private-sector firms to import natural gas, the paper said.

EU plans ban on new investment in Syrian oil
BRUSSELS, Sept 13 (Reuters) - European Union governments reached a preliminary agreement on Tuesday to ban European companies from making new investments in Syrian oil exploration, production and refining industries, EU diplomats said.
Pending final approval, the latest round of Europe's economic sanctions against the government of President Bashar al-Assad could go into effect next week, they said.

NYMEX-Natural gas ends up 2 pct, chart buying helps
NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures ended higher on Tuesday, backed by technical buying after an overnight attempt to move lower stalled despite milder U.S. weather this week, a soft economy and comfortable supplies.
"The market hasn't been able to break down and may be building a technical base here, but there's no real (hot or cold) weather right now," a Houston trader said.

Euro Coal-Oct S.Africa prices slump $6 to $111/T
LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Prompt South African coal prices slumped by another $6.00 a tonne or 5 percent on Tuesday as traders struggled to find buyers for cargoes due to load in a few weeks' time while DES ARA prices slipped by 25-50 cents.
"Richards Bay prices are massively down from where they were a month ago but they need to fall by at least another $10 if more buyers are to be tempted," one industry source said.

COMMODITIES-U.S. oil at five-week highs; grains slump
NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil settled at five-weeks highs on Tuesday on expectations of tightening stockpiles in the world's biggest energy consumer, while crop futures mostly slumped on weak demand for grains and soybeans.
"We have a harvest coming and people don't seem too interested in buying before the harvest," said Jack Scoville, analyst with The Price Futures Group. "The demand side of the market is pretty pathetic right now."

20110914 1104 Local & Global Economic Related News.

The  Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) approved RM31.7bn in  investments for the first seven months of this year. "It is for both new operations and  expansion of existing ones," International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Mustapa  Mohamed said.  
• He noted that some of the existing companies in Melaka and Penang were investing  up to RM1bn while increasing the number of employees to another 1,700 each.  
• On achieving the foreign direct investment (FDI) target of RM55bn for this year,  Mustapa said MIDA was on track to do so. (BT)  

Malaysia has proposed to undertake two oil and gas (O&G)-related projects in Brunei,  PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said yesterday. One was by Petronas to build a  petrochemical complex with BASF in Pulau Muara Besar, involving an investment of about  US$1.6bn, while the other was the development of a  fabrication yard by Petronas'  subsidiary, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd.  
• Meanwhile, Najib said he had also discussed investment opportunities for Brunei in  the Sabah tourism sector and hydro power generation in Sarawak.  
• On the field of finance, Brunei sees the possibility of it getting involved in the  development of Islamic banking in Malaysia because  Malaysia is recognised as the  world Islamic banking centre. The details will be announced later, Najib noted. (BT)

A bridge which had been agreed to be built across Sungai Pandaruan that borders the  Malaysian state of Sarawak and Brunei's Temburong district is expected to be ready by  2013, Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said. The construction of the bridge,  specified to be about 200 metres in length and 60 metres wide, had been planned to start  in Apr next year. Five contractors from Brunei Darussalam and five from Malaysia would be  invited to bid for the tender to construct the bridge which was expected to cost about  RM25m, he said. (Bernama)  

The  Employees Provident Fund (EPF) posted RM6.75bn in  investment income in  2Q11, up by 24.4% yoy or RM1.32bn compared to 2Q10. Top three performing asset  classes were equities (+47.9% yoy  to RM3.27bn), loans and bonds (+11.4% yoy to  RM1.87bn) and Malaysian Government Securities (+5.3% yoy to RM1.39bn) from a  continued steady growth of the Malaysian economy, its CEO Tan Sri Azlan Zainol said.  
• Returns from Money Market Instruments registered RM192.41m (-1.0% yoy), while  investments income from properties recorded RM28.50m (+25.2% yoy).  
• As at 30 Jun 2011, the EPF’s total investment fund stood at RM462.54bn. (BT)

Malaysia will host the  United Federation of Travel Agents' Associations' (UFTAA)  Congress next year as part of the effort to promote Visit Malaysia Year 2013. UFTAA  board member, Datuk Mohd Khalid Harun JP, said the event was expected to attract over  1,500 participants.  
• He said UFTAA board of directors met on 11 Sep 2011 and picked Malaysia to host  the congress, tentatively scheduled from 17-22 Nov next year.  
• The last time Malaysia organised the congress was in 2002, he said. The venue has  yet to be decided. (Bernama)  

Malaysia's position as the  third largest solar panel exporter globally has attracted the  attention of many foreign manufacturers wanting to  set up plants in the country. Deputy  Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said about six foreign  manufacturers had established plants with several more to come. "Currently, we have the  Americans, Germans and Japanese. There are several foreign companies that are keen to  invest here and we are still in the process of evaluating their proposals,” he noted.  (Bernama)  

PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said affirmative actions to help Bumiputeras, which were  introduced under the banner of  New Economic Policy (NEP), would remain but have  shifted to become more market friendly and merit based. The current government strategy  of creating more opportunities for the Bumiputeras rather than imposing quotas on others,  have also attracted the non-Bumiputeras, he said. (Bernama)  

The government will introduce a  goods and services tax (GST) sometime “after” the  general election (GE), PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak  said, without giving any hint on  when the GE will be held. “The question is the timing of it. I guess when the time is right, in  the near future... probably after the next general election, we will introduce the GST," he  said.
• The  economic growth “might touch” 5% this year after strong growth of  7.2% last  year. “To get beyond 5% growth this year, we do need strong external demand. And  for that reason, we would like to see the US recover strongly,” he noted.
• "On  fiscal deficit, our plan is to reduce it from 5.6% to 5.4% this year and down to  about 3.0% in the next few years," Najib said. (BT)

The  U.S. poverty rate rose to the highest level in almost two decades and  household  income fell in 2010, underscoring the lingering impact of the worst economic slump in  seven decades. Data released by the Census Bureau today showed the proportion of  people living in poverty climbed to 15.1% in 2010 (14.3% in 2009), and median household  income declined 2.3%. The number of Americans living in poverty was the highest in the  52 years since the Census Bureau began gathering that statistic. Those figures may have  worsened in recent months as the economy weakened. (Bloomberg)  

US: Import prices fall for second time in three months
Prices of goods imported into the US fell in August for the second time in three months as the cost of oil and food dropped while autos stabilized. The 0.4% decline in the import-price index followed a 0.3% increase in July, Labor Department figures showed. Economists projected a 0.8% decrease, according to the median of 52 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Prices excluding fuel rose 0.2%. Slower growth in Europe and emerging economies like China, together with less US demand, may restrain the cost of goods from abroad. (Bloomberg)

US: Budget deficit widened to USD134.2bn in August
The US government’s budget deficit widened in August, primarily reflecting a calendar- related jump in spending compared with the same month last year. The gap climbed to USD134.2bn last month, exceeding the August 2010 shortfall of USD90.5bn. For the fiscal year to date, the deficit increased to USD1.23trn, less than at the same point in 2010. Improved income-tax collections and efforts to cut spending signal the deficit will stop climbing, according to government and Wall Street analysts. The drive to limit debt prompted President Obama to send a USD447bn job-growth package to Congress this week that he stressed would be paid for with offsetting reductions in outlays and increases in tax revenue over the next decade. (Bloomberg)

US: Small-business index falls to 13-month low on outlook
Confidence among US small businesses dropped to a 13-month low in August as fewer companies projected better economic conditions and improving sales, a private survey found. The National Federation of Independent Business’s optimism index decreased to 88.1, the weakest reading since July 2010 and the sixth-consecutive decline, from 89.9 in July. The number of small-business owners saying they expected the economy will improve six months from now fell to the lowest level since 1980. (Bloomberg)

The International Energy Agency cut global oil demand forecasts for this year and next  as the economic recovery falters. The adviser reduced its estimate for 2012 consumption  by 400,000 bbl/day, and for 2011 by 200,000 bbl/day. Worldwide demand will rise by 1.2%  to 89.3m bbl/day this year and by 1.6% to 90.7m next year. (Bloomberg)  

The Philippine government's budget deficit this year may be at least 2.6% of GDP, and  will not reach its goal of 3% of GDP, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said. Manila posted  a budget shortfall of PP26.48bn in Jul, which brought the seven-month fiscal gap to just  15% of the full year target. (Reuters)    

Philippines: Exports fall a third month as electronics sales drop
Philippine exports fell for a third straight month in July as demand for electronics products weakened, adding to signs of a faltering global recovery that’s hurting Asian economic expansion. Shipments abroad dropped 1.7% from a year earlier to USD4.43bn after falling a revised 9.4% in June, the National Statistics Office said. The median of five estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 6.8% decline. (Bloomberg)

China's crude steel output fell 0.9% mom to 58.75m tonnes in Aug as several steel mills  reduced production due to maintenance, official figures showed. (Reuters)    

Singapore's employers expect the hiring pace to remain steady for the coming quarter,  with those in the public administration and education sector the most optimistic, according  to a Manpower survey. 57% of employers foresee no change to their workforce, 33%  expect to add employees and 2% anticipate a decrease. (Channel News Asia)    

China's fiscal revenues in Aug rose 34.3% yoy (+27% in Jul) to Rmb754.6bn  (US$118bn), the Ministry of Finance said. Fiscal revenue may grow at a slower clip in the  coming months due to moderating economic growth and a higher threshold on personal  income taxes since Sep. Fiscal expenditure in Aug rose 25.9% yoy to Rmb807.7bn.  (Reuters)  

Bank Indonesia says growth next year may reach 6.5%, lower than the government’s  6.7% target, due to a slowing global economy. The central bank is preparing a number of  measures to anticipate a global economic slowdown, as Indonesia gears up to feel the  impact next year. Global growth was predicted to slow down to 4.2% in 2011 (4.3%  earlier); and to 4% in 2012 (4.5% earlier). (Jakarta Post)

Italy: Borrowing costs jump at USD8.8bn auction
Italian borrowing costs jumped at a EUR6.5bn (USD8.8bn) bond auction as contagion from Europe’s debt crisis leaves investors shunning the region’s most-indebted nations. The Rome-based Treasury sold EUR3.9bn of a new benchmark five-year bond to yield 5.6%, up from 4.93% when similar-maturity securities were sold on 14 July. Demand was 1.28 times the amount offered, down from 1.93 times at the last sale. The Treasury, which fell short of its maximum target of EUR7bn, also sold EUR2.6bn of bonds maturing in 2018 and 2020. (Bloomberg)

20110914 1102 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

TNB may have to raise funds amid gas shortage
TNB may look to the market to raise funds to sustain itself amid concerns on the continued gas shortage as it has to spend an additional RM3bn on power generation this year. Bernama reported TNB president/CEO Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohd Noh saying that if no immediate solution is found to address the gas crisis, it would be the first time that the company is going to the market to raise money for operations. TNB last month submitted a cost sharing proposal with Petronas and independent power producers but there’s no outcome to date. Che Khalib said the gas curtailment exercise by Petronas has prompted TNB to buy fuel distillates, which cost five times more than gas, to keep generating electricity. He also said that TNB’s debt of RM18bn gives the company room to borrow but it cannot sustain itself for long. (Malaysian Reserve) Please see accompanying report

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) said it has to spend an additional estimated  RM3bn on  power generation for this year and if no immediate solution was found to address the gas  crisis the company would have to go to the market to raise money to fund its operations.
• On the company's fourth quarter result ended Aug 31, 2011, Chief Executive Officer  Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said it would be bad and his target for the  financial year ended Aug 31, 2011 has gone very much haywire. He said it has been  more than 50% revised downward.
• He hoped there would be sufficient gas supply by July next year when Petronas' regasification terminal for Liquefied Natural Gas in Malacca is ready.
• On whether the rise in fuel cost could result in a  rise in electricity tariff rates, Che  Khalib said, "We are not looking at passing down the additional cost to the  consumers." (Bernama  

Yesterday, Petronas started oil-drilling in Brunei waters near the Sarawak-Brunei border.  The national oil company also secured a US$1.6bn contract to build a petrochemical  complex on a 60-hectare land at Pulau Muara Besar with BASF. The complex is expected  to create 650 employment opportunities and the products are for the export markets.  Furthermore, Petronas’s subsidiary MMHE will undertake the development of a fabrication  yard in Brunei. (Star)  

Open access network provider  Jalur Lebar Nasional (Jalenas)  said the company is on  track to deploy its open access  "fibre-to-the-home" network in the country's sourthern  states, following what it said was a successful debut deployment in Kuantan. Its executive  director Heikal M Ali said, "Our network went live  in April an since then, our service  providers' customers have been enjoying superior high quality  30Mbps symmetrical  services." In late June, Jalenas sealed an agreement with Jaring to use Jalenas' network to  deliver their services to end-users in Kuantan. Jalenas said it had signed an agreement  with  Tenaga Nasional to to accelerate deployment of its network by using the Tenaga's  poles. (Malaysian Reserve).

Ralph Marshall, CEO of  Astro  which invested in Sun TV and also a board member of  Maxis, appeared before India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for clarifying on  allegations that the company was favoured by the Minister in the takeover of Aircel and in  return investments were made in Sun TV owned by Maran family. This is in connection  with alleged irregularities in spectrum allotment during the tenure of former Indian Telecom  Minister Dayanidhi Maran. (Bernama)    

Ramunia Holdings seems to be taking a relatively large risk, purchasing a floating  production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the  MT Laurita, without an attached  contract. Shareholders approved the acquisition yesterday,  which will set the company  back by US$82.5m in cash.
• Nor Badli Mohd Alias, CEO said the company had already started negotiations and  submitted tenders for FPSO jobs. They participated in one tender in Vietnam.
• Ramunia is in the midst of acquiring a 56-acre fabrication yard from OilFab for  RM83.8m. The yard is central in Ramunia’s effort to come out of the PN17 category.  (Financial Daily)

Perodua will export the new Myvi 1.3 to Mauritius in October and Sri Lanka in November.  Perodua will ship 10 to 20 units to these countries to test the market. The company also  plans to export the Myvi 1.3 to Fiji by early next year.
• The investment for Myvi is about RM215m to RM220m according to managing  director, Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh (Bernama)  

YTL Corp Bhd group managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh revealed at a press briefing  that YTL’s flagship Yes 4G internet service had seen a strong take-up in the east coast,  especially over the Hari Raya holiday season. The Yes 4G service now has over 300,000  users and the group expected to reach a subscriber base of 400,000 by year end. (Star  Biz)  

The government is now considering proposals to provide alternative assistance to  Megasteel, as a bolster against competition from imported hot-rolled coils (HRC).
• This comes after Megasteel’s request for an additional 35% import tariff on HRCs was  rejected and Lion group boss, Tan Sri William Cheng said he is considering moving  his steel manufacturing operations to Indonesia, which imposes a 48% duty on HRC  imports. (Financial Daily)  

Kelington Group, a provider of ultra high purity gas and chemical  delivery system has  submitted to the Securities Commission an application for a transfer to the Main Market  of Bursa Malaysia from the ACE Market. (Star Biz)  

Kian Joo Can Factory (KJCF) has withdrawn its counterclaim for damages against CanOne International (CISB). The claim was in respect of the suit field by CISB against KJCF  and its founding See family on its proposed corporate exercises involving a bonus issue  and the issuance of warrants. (Financial Daily)  

Maersk Drilling, a unit of the AP Moller-Maersk Group, has secured a US$51m  (RM155.55m) contract from  Petronas Carigali to provide a high pressure, high  temperature jack-up rig, Maersk Convincer, for offshore Malaysia. (Financial Daily)

No hot-rolled coils duty hike
The International Trade and Industry Ministry will not approve a 35% duty on imports of hot-rolled coils to protect the local steel industry’s upstream and downstream players. Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said that in the interest of the country, they are not in a position to approve the duty hike as it has big implications on other upstream and downstream businesses. He said the additional tariff would further burden consumers amid the increase in construction and production costs. However, the ministry is working with Megasteel SB to explore various avenues in assisting the company. (StarBiz)

Malaysian ports container throughput up 9.4% in first seven months of the year
Malaysian ports recorded a 9.4% increase in container throughput in the first seven months of 2011. 11.6m TEUs were handled by ports nationwide in the period compared to 10.6m TEUs in last year’s first seven months. Port Klang recorded an 8% growth from 5.1m TEUs to 5.5m TEUs while Port of Tanjung Pelepas was up 16.2% from 3.8m TEUs to 4.2m TEUs. The total figure for July 2011 is 1.8m TEUs, a 7.3% y-o-y growth. (Malaysian Reserve)

Najib says that the government will introduce GST when the time is right
Malaysia will introduce a goods and services tax (GST) sometime "after" the general election (GE), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said, without giving any hint on when the GE will be held. Malaysia has deemed it necessary to implement a GST but has twice delayed its implementation. "When the time is right, in the near future, after the GE, we will introduce GST," Najib said during an interview session with Steve Forbes. (BT)

Additional incentives to telcos unnecessary for deferring 6% tax
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai says he will not agree to providing incentive to telecommunication companies for deferring their plan to impose a 6% service tax on prepaid users. He said that “unless they (the telcos) are not making money, only then we have to think of otherwise.” (Malaysian Reserve)

Malaysian Airline System Bhd : Sponsorship for Queen Park Rangers jersey to cost RM18.0mil
Malaysian Airline System Bhd’s (MAS) recently-announced sponsorship for the Queen Park Rangers (QPR) home jersey in the Barclays Premier League will cost the national carrier some RM18.0mil, according to a source. The total sponsorship fee for both MAS and AirAsia for the English professional football club, which involves a term of two years, would cost some RM30mil. The source added that MAS will take up a bulk or almost 60.0% of the total fees while the remaining will be forked out by AirAsia Bhd and its related companies which could also involve AirAsia X. On Monday, MAS and AirAsia signed a jersey deal for QPR which will see the MAS logo adorn the jersey at home while the AirAsia logo will be used on the team’s away games. MAS executive director Mohammed Rashdan Yusof said that this sponsorship is the first major initiative of their new brand and marketing strategy that would see important advertising money spent on boosting their top line. In an earlier announcement to Bursa Malaysia, AirAsia said it would cough up some RM2.4mil as sponsorship fees for the duration of the two-year term. - StarBiz

Oil and Gas Sector :  Malaysia proposes two O&G-related projects in Brunei
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia has proposed to undertake two oil and gas- (O&G) related projects in Brunei.  One is by Petronas to build a petrochemical complex with BASF in Pulau Muara Besar, involving an investment of about US$1.6bil, while the other is the development of a fabrication yard by Petronas’ subsidiary, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd. Najib said the projects would take off if Brunei agreed to it. He also added that both projects will have positive impacts on both countries, particularly the job opportunities to be created. The prime minister said the petrochemical complex was expected to create about 650 employment opportunities, and the products were for export markets. Meanwhile, Najib said he had also discussed investment opportunities for Brunei in the Sabah tourism sector and hydro power generation in Sarawak. – Bernama

Transportation and Logistics Sector : Malaysian ports’ container throughput up 9.4% in Jan-July period
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said 11.6 million TEUs were handled by ports nationwide in the Jan-July 2011 period compared with 10.6 million TEUs in last year’s first seven months. The total figure for July 2011 alone was 1.8 million TEUs, an increase of 7.3 percent from 1.7 million TEUs in the same month of last year. Meanwhile, the amount of cargo handled rose 31.5 million tonnes or 9.3% to 371.1 million tonnes in Jan-July 2011 from 339.6 million tonnes in the previous corresponding period. – Bernama - Business Times

20110914 1027 Global Commodities Related News.

Corn (Source: CME)
US corn futures finished sharply lower as traders take profits on previous gains. It's a turnaround from gains yesterday, when prices jumped after USDA made a larger-than-expected cut to its harvest forecast. Tight supply outlook is "still bullish" and today's sell-off gave "all indications of outside liquidation taking place," notes Shawn McCambridge of Jefferies Bache. Commodity funds sold an estimated 15,000 contracts at CBOT, a hefty amount. CBOT December corn drops 22 1/2c to $7.23 a bushel.

Wheat (Source: CME)
US wheat futures ended with steep losses on spillover pressure from corn. The grains are linked since both are used for livestock feed. Yet, wheat prices lack the strength to advance on their own because of poor foreign demand. Increased output and exports from Russia have reduced demand for US wheat. CBOT December wheat drops 25 1/4c to $7.02 a bushel; KCBT December loses 23 1/2c to $8.02 1/2 a bushel and MGEX December slides 24 3/4c to $8.76 3/4.

Rice (Source: CME)
US rice futures finished lower in a setback from a nearly three-year high. Prices retreat after climbing recently on concerns about tightening global supplies. The market had extended gains yesterday even though the USDA raised its outlook for global production and inventories. Spillover selling from losses in the wheat and corn markets added pressure to rice prices, traders note. CBOT November rice drops 28 1/2c, or 1.6%, to $18.08 1/2/hundredweight.

Australia's wheat exports to Indonesia seen rising
JAKARTA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Australia's wheat exports to Indonesia are expected to rise around 30 percent in the year to September, with better growing conditions giving suppliers a bigger foothold in vital Asian markets, Wheat Exports Australia (WEA) said on Tuesday.
Indonesia, which relies entirely on icornmports for its wheat, currently gets around 60 percent of its supplies from Australia, with Canada and the United States accounting for about 30 percent.

US corn firm on tightening supplies, wheat up
SINGAPORE, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Chicago corn rose for a third straight session as a government forecast of a lower U.S. crop this year continued to buoy the market, while wheat rose around half a percent, recovering from a one-month low on bargain hunting.
"We saw wheat lose ground to corn last night as a result of the USDA report; today it is probably profit taking on the wheat-corn spread," said Brett Cooper, a senior manager of markets at FCStone Australia.

Australia sees record wheat exports, may pressure prices
SYDNEY, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Australian wheat exports could reach a record high in 2011/12, with the harvest also seen close to a new peak, helped by better growing conditions in some key crop areas, the government's chief commodities forecaster said on Tuesday.
The forecast of more wheat supplies from Australia is bearish for the market as it comes against the backdrop of higher-than-expected global production and stockpiles estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

US corn crop shrinks on heat; high prices curb demand
WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - A 3 percent reduction in the U.S. corn crop after a scorching summer will be largely offset by an abrupt fall in demand from both domestic and export consumers, the government forecast on Monday.
In a report that painted a marginally brighter outlook for world grain supplies thanks to larger wheat and rice crops, the Agriculture Department said U.S. corn yields had deteriorated even more than analysts had forecast, falling 4.9 bushels per acre to 148.1 bushels, lowest in six years.

Ukraine grain exports at 284,000 T Sept 1-9
KIEV, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Ukraine exported 155,000 tonnes of wheat, 121,900 of barley and 7,100 of maize in the first nine days of September, analyst ProAgro said on Monday.
The consultancy said 65,000 tonnes of wheat and 62,900 tonnes of barley had been directed to Saudi Arabia.

Argentine Corn Group Sees Government Freeing 1.5 Million Tons for Export (Source: Bloomberg)
Argentina’s corn association expects the government to agree to an additional 1.5 million export quota amid slumping local prices for the grain. The group, known as Maizar, will meet officials tomorrow to lobby for the quota and also ask for as much as 7 million tons of corn to be authorized for export next year, director Martin Fraguio said today in an interview in Buenos Aires. Argentina’s government requires that corn producers earmark 8 million tons per year for domestic consumption. Output in Argentina was about 21 million tons in the 2010-2011 season. Export quotas are announced over the course of the year.

Wheat Extends Longest Slump Since October as Rain May Revive Dry U.S. Crop (Source: Bloomberg)
Wheat fell, capping the longest slump in 11 months, on signs that rain this week will improve conditions of dry fields in the U.S. Great Plains just as farmers begin planting winter crops. Storms may bring a half inch (1.3 centimeters) to an inch of rain to parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas by Sept. 16, said Mike Tannura, the president of forecaster T-Storm Weather LLC in Chicago. After months of below-normal rainfall, conditions in the region range from “abnormally dry” to “exceptional” drought, the most severe ranking on the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s U.S. Drought Monitor. The rain “will be welcomed,” Larry Glenn, an analyst at Frontier Ag in Quinter, Kansas, said in a telephone interview. “It’ll allow us to get some seeds in the ground and maybe get them up. But for a lot of areas, it’ll have to be followed up by a lot more moisture, especially in southern Kansas.”

Protest Threatens Key Chinese Rice Project In Cameroon (Source: CME)
Several land-owning villagers have vowed to recover thousands of hectares acquired by authorities and handed to a Chinese project for rice production, some of the villagers said. Villagers Joseph Embolo Fa'a and Celestin Ze Evina were among many arrested in May while protesting against their land being taken for a 6,000-hectare rice project in the town of Nanga Eboko, located some 150 kilometers east of Yaounde. The two appeared in court Monday for their first trial. They were arrested and detained after felling trees and blocking a passage used by cartographers demarcating the land for the project. China's IKO Agriculture Development Ltd. reached an agreement with Cameroon's government in 2006 to obtain 10 hectares to experiment the growing of rice and other crops for eventual expansion to boost the West African nation's output. "But within four years the IKO project has expanded its acquisition of land to 6,000 hectares, without considering traditional customs of the owners," Fa'a said in court.
Officially, Cameroon imports around 500,000 metric tons of its annual yearly consumption of 600,000 tons. The government plans to lift output to cut imports.

France's 2011-2012 Soft Wheat Harvest Seen At 33.4M Tons (Source: CME)
French soft wheat production is likely to fall to 33.4 million metric tons in the July 2011 to June 2012 season from an estimated 35.7 million tons in the same period a year earlier, France AgriMer said. The agency raised its estimate for 2011-12 from a previous forecast of 32 million tons two months ago, as rains in June boosted yields, after a hot, dry spring. "Even if yields vary greatly from one region to another, rains in June reversed some of the spring damage," the agency president, Remi Haquin, said.

CWB Says 60% Of Crops in Western Canada Harvested (Source: CME)
Unseasonably warm temperatures allowed western Canadian farmers to make significant harvest progress, according to the Canadian Wheat Board, or CWB, in its weekly bulletin released. Harvest progress was now well ahead of normal in all three prairie provinces, the CWB said. To date, 60% of the western Canadian grain and oilseed crops have been harvested, compared to about 49% normally. Last year at the same time, harvest operations in western Canada were only 23% complete. Operations in Manitoba were about 75% complete, compared to 61% on average. Harvest activities in Alberta were 53% finished, compared to 44% normally. In Saskatchewan, the harvest was about 61% complete, compared to 50% normally. The forecast for cooler weather means producers are working to harvest as quickly as possible before frost arrives, the CWB said.

E. Coli Ban Proposed For Six More Strains (Source: CME)
The Department of Agriculture plans to add six types of E. coli bacteria to its list of adulterants barred from raw beef sold in stores, given evidence that they can sicken people just as the better-known O157:H7 type can, people familiar with the matter said. The move, which drew protests from the meat industry, shows a greater sensitivity to the potential for illness from contaminated meat after recent outbreaks including one involving salmonella that has led to the recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey. People briefed on the USDA plan said it was set to take effect in March 2012 after a public comment period. USDA officials declined to comment.
Thousands of people get sick from E. coli O157:H7 every year, but other types of E. coli can also lead to thousands of illnesses a year, Peter Gerner-Smidt, a branch chief for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview last year. The USDA late last year completed work on tests that can be used to rapidly detect the additional six types of E. coli. These six strains are found in ground beef and the cattle it comes from at levels comparable to E. coli O157:H7, according to a presentation made in 2007 by USDA scientist Denise Eblen. James H. Hodges, executive vice president of the American Meat Institute, an industry group, said Monday that the six strains were less prevalent than E. coli 0157:H7, though he said they can be as virulent.
Three people were sickened in June and July 2010 after eating ground beef contaminated with E. coli 026, one of the bacteria types the USDA now plans to test for. In that case, 8,500 pounds of beef produced at a Cargill Inc. plant in Pennsylvania were recalled. Meat packers question whether these six strains pose a significant health threat, in part because preventive measures already in place typically kill the bacteria. The American Meat Institute on Monday criticized the USDA proposal. "Imposing this new regulatory program on ground beef will cost tens of millions of federal and industry dollars, costs that likely will be borne by taxpayers and consumers," Mr. Hodges said. "It is neither likely to yield a significant public health benefit nor is it good public policy."
Most E. coli infections are contracted by eating undercooked meat. Beef with the strains of E. coli considered adulterants can't be sold in raw form. It can still be used in processed foods that use cooked beef because the heat kills the bacteria, though producers get a lower price. E. coli 0157:H7 has been considered the most common type of the bacterium that sickens people, and it is currently the only type USDA inspectors test for at meat-packing plants. Severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting are some of the most common symptoms of E. coli poisoning. In severe cases, kidney failure and death can result.

Raw sugar mostly flat, October premium eyed
LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - ICE raw sugar futures were mostly flat in early trade with the premium on the front month edging up while arabica coffee and cocoa were slightly lower.
The premium was trading around 1.50 cents a lb in early trade, well below Monday's peak of more than 2.00 cents but still significantly above last week when it traded as low as 0.57 cent.

Vietnam Coffee-Sales of fresh beans slow
HANOI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Vietnamese exporters may have sold between 20,000 tonnes and 50,000 tonnes of coffee from the next 2011/2012 crop, far below the figure of around 200,000 tonnes sold at the same time last year, traders said on Tuesday.
The slowing trade in fresh beans in Vietnam, the world's second-largest coffee producer after Brazil, came as both exporters and foreign buyers took precautions after overseas traders said up to 100,000 tonnes of beans had faced delays or defaults.

Brazil CS sugar output down 9.4 pct - Unica
SAO PAULO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Sugar production in Brazil's center-south totaled 20.4 million tonnes from the start of the season to Sept. 1, down 9.4 percent from the same date a year earlier, cane industry association Unica said in a statement on Monday.
Cane crush since the beginning of the season in April reached 338.1 million tonnes, down 11 percent from a year earlier. Ethanol production lagged last year's output by 18.6 percent at 13.8 billion liters, Unica said.

Ivorian cocoa output to slip in upcoming crop -BCC
ABIDJAN, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's cocoa production during the forthcoming 2011-12 main crop will fall short of last year's record, the head of industry regulator BCC told Reuters on Monday.
"We have not yet finished our work to come up with a specific projection, but we are expecting much less this year," Eric Koffi told Reuters by telephone.

Ivorian light rains, sun support cocoa crop-farmers
ABIDJAN, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Light rains mixed with average sunshine in Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions last week were in line with levels needed for the good development of the 2011/12 main cocoa crop, farmers said on Monday.  
Farmers in the principle cocoa growing regions in the west said they expected a healthy crop compared with last season.

India extends unrestricted cotton exports beyond Oct 1
MUMBAI, Sept 12 (Reuters) - India has extended unrestricted cotton exports in the new marketing year that begins from Oct. 1, according to an official notification late on Monday.  
India will continue with unrestricted cotton exports in the new marketing year beginning Oct. 1, Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters on Friday, a move that could depress global prices which have halved since a record high in March.

Ghana cocoa purchases hit 1,014,778 T
ACCRA, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Cocoa purchases declared by private buyers to Ghana's industry regulator Cocobod hit 1,014,778 tonnes by Sept. 1 since the start of the season in October, according to data from Cocobod obtained by Reuters on Monday.
The figure includes 97,967.6 tonnes registered during the first 12 weeks of the No. 2 world cocoa grower's 13-week light crop, during which beans are sold to local grinders at a discount instead of being exported.

Wet Weather Sours US Sugarbeet Harvest (Source: CME)
As U.S. farmers begin pulling sugarbeets out of the ground, the crop is looking smaller than expected, which could crimp supplies of the sweetener this season and drive up prices for consumers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture trimmed its forecast for sugar produced from beets by almost 4% to 4.58 million short tons. Abnormally wet weather this spring and summer delayed the planting of the crop, the source of more than half of the country's domestically produced sugar. The beets require about six months underground to produce the maximum amount of sugar and are usually planted in April. This year, the wettest in nearly a century for the northern Midwest where many of the beets are grown, planting started nearly a month late in some areas. "We've had a rough go of it," said Tom Knudsen, vice president of the Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative in Wahpeton, N.D., in the heart of the country's largest sugarbeet-growing region. "We had continuous rain. It causes disease, rot."
Knudsen said the co-operative's 2,000 farmers increased their planted acreage by 7% this season, but output will likely be one-third lower than last year. Ray Van Driessche, community and government relations manager for the Michigan Sugar Company, said the crop produced by the growers-owned cooperative will be about 8% smaller than last year due to the late plantings. "We had a lot less growth time," he said. The U.S. consumes about 11 million short tons of sugar annually and needs to import some of the sweetener each year to meet demand. But the USDA limits the amount of low-tariff or duty-free sugar that can be imported each year to protect domestic sugarcane and sugarbeet farmers.
The USDA has set the limit at the minimum dictated by the World Trade Organization for the 2012 fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, as it has done every year since 2006. But the USDA admitted supplies of the sugar are running low and over the summer it expanded the period that low-tariff or duty-free sugar can enter the country by one month on either side of the fiscal year. But if that isn't enough to meet demand, consumers could be facing higher prices at home, especially if a cold snap hurts the U.S. sugarcane crop, which is harvested in the winter. "We could be looking at higher prices for the consumer," said Sterling Smith, an analyst at brokerage Country Hedging. "We are vulnerable here and we're also coming into a cold spot with potential frost. Raw sugar futures for October delivery on IntercontinentalExchange settled Monday at 29.57c a pound, up 1.8% on the day, still more than 44% higher than an eight-month low touched in May.

Brazil 2011 ethanol imports to top 1 bln lts-Unica
SAO PAULO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Brazil will import 1.1 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol in the 2011/12 season (April-March) to meet increasing local demand and to cover local supply shortfalls, sugar cane industry association Unica said on Monday.
The world's second largest ethanol producer, after the United States, imported 78 million liters of the fuel in the previous season.

USDA trims corn use for ethanol to 5 bln bu in 11/12
WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Ethanol makers will use slightly less corn to make the renewable motor fuel as higher corn prices and lower gasoline use curtail demand, the U.S. government said Monday.
The U.S. Agriculture Department lowered its estimate of corn used to produce the renewable fuel to 5 billion bushels in 2011/12, down 100 million bushels, or 2 percent, from 5.1 billion bushels forecast during August. The estimate was nearly in-line with usage during 2010/11 when 5.020 billion bushels were used to produce ethanol.

IEA cuts global refinery run forecasts for Q3, Q4
LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Global oil refineries are likely to process less crude oil for the rest of 2011 than previously forecast due to extended outages at large plants in Asia and sluggish demand, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.
The Paris-based agency, the adviser for 28 industrialised countries, revised its outlook for global refinery runs down by about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) for both the third and fourth quarters.

Japan utilities' LNG usage hits record high in August
TOKYO, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Japan's 10 utilities consumed a record 4.81 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas in August, up 15.4 percent from a year earlier, industry data showed on Tuesday, as they burned more gas to offset a fall in nuclear power generation.
The utilities produced 84.18 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in August, down 12.1 percent from a year earlier, the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said, matching a Reuters projection.

Malaysia's Petronas to build $1.6 bln petrochem complex
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Petronas [PETR.UL] plans to build a $1.6 billion petrochemical complex in Brunei with Germany's BASF , Malaysia's state news agency Bernama reported on Tuesday quoting Prime Minister Najib Razak.
No further details on the complex were immediately available. Bernama said Petronas' unit Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering  will build a fabrication yard in Brunei but did not give a value for it.

Vietnam refinery at full capacity
HANOI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Vietnam's Dung Quat oil refinery is running at full capacity from Tuesday and all of its products will be absorbed by  domestic markets, a senior official said.
The 130,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) facility now uses all of its crude oil input from the Bach Ho field, said Chief Executive Officer Nguyen Hoai Giang of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co, which operates the refinery in Vietnam's central region.

Oil Trades Near Six-Week High as Investors Speculate Storms Cut Stockpiles (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil traded near a six-week high in New York as investors speculated that storm disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico reduced supplies in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer. Futures swung between gains and losses after the American Petroleum Institute said crude stockpiles fell the most in five weeks during the seven days ended Sept. 9. An Energy Department report today may show they slipped 3 million barrels as Tropical Storm Lee shut output in the Gulf. Maria, the 14th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, gained speed on a path that may take it toward refineries in Canada. “When you’re in a fairly tight supply situation to begin with, these temporary disruptions have an impact,” Ric Spooner, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by telephone today.

Gold May Advance for Second Day as European Debt Risk Drives Haven Demand (Source: Bloomberg)
Gold may advance for a second day as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis boosts demand for the metal as a haven investment. Immediate-delivery gold increased 0.2 percent to $1,837.43 an ounce before trading at $1,836.97 at 9:55 a.m. in Melbourne. December-delivery bullion rose as much as 0.6 percent to $1,840.70 an ounce in New York and traded at $1,839.80 an ounce. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she won’t let Greece go into “uncontrolled insolvency” because of the risk of contagion for other euro-zone countries. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou plans to hold a conference call with Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy today on developments in Greece and the euro area, said Papandreou’s Athens office.

Investors Search For Land Of Opportunity (Source: CME)
With food prices relatively strong even during recent market turmoil, investors remain keen for exposure to agriculture. One popular theme: investing in land. Bringing more land under cultivation is crucial to meeting global food demand, as crop yields stagnate. From 1990 to 2007, farmers squeezed about 1% more maize, rice or soybeans per year from their land, down from the 2%-3% growth between 1961 and 2007, according to OECD figures. So the search is on for more land to plant. Brazil alone could have 190 million hectares of under-utilized land, according to Renaissance Capital, equivalent to the European Union's total farmland. One answer has been to transform large areas of scrub land, known as cerrado, into arable land, by reducing the soil's acidity to make it suitable for cattle grazing and soybean cultivation.
Agrifirma, a private investment company backed by financier Lord Rothschild, raised $159 million in 2008 to invest in 40,000 such hectares. With cerrado land prices rising fast, and more crops being harvested from the land, it hopes to generate a 20% internal rate of return for its investors over a five to seven year period. Last week, it transferred around half of its assets to a new joint venture with Brazilian private equity firm BRZ Investimentos, which will majority-own the company and invest a further $82 million. Technological development, available land and adequate property rights made the cerrado attractive to Agrifirma. Such a happy confluence of factors may be hard to find elsewhere. With 85% of the world's farmland held in smallholdings of two hectares or less, many countries are nervous of foreign investors looking to build large land banks that disrupt rural life. Brazil itself is considering laws to restrict foreign land ownership, one factor behind Agrifirma's deal with BRZ.
Agricultural companies can't escape the underlying volatility of commodity prices, or land values. SLC Agricola, a listed Brazilian cotton and soybean producer, saw its return on equity fluctuate from 15.9% in 2008, to 0.7% in 2009, back to 14.1% in 2010, with its land value returns moving wildly. Adecoagro, another Brazilian company, saw first half earnings at $28 million this year after a $70.6 million loss in the same period in 2010. Agrifirma itself recently shelved plans for a Hong Kong flotation. But with market volatility spiking, appetite will likely return for the ultimate hard asset: land.

20110914 1026 Global Market Related News.

Asian Stocks Gain on Easing Europe Concern (Source: Bloomberg)
Most Asian stocks rose as banks advanced after French lenders dismissed concerns over their access to funds, easing concern that Europe’s debt crisis may lead to a freezing of credit markets. Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC), Australia’s No. 2 lender by market value, increased 0.7 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Australia’s No. 1 oil producer, jumped 0.8 percent after crude prices advanced. Tokyo Electric Power Co. slumped 5.3 percent on speculation Japan’s new trade minister may take a tough stance on power monopolies. Korean Air Lines Co. fell 3.6 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its rating on the stock.
About five stocks rose for every three that dropped on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which was little changed at 118.30 at 10:25 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge swung between gains and losses of as much as 0.3 percent earlier. The measure slumped 8.6 percent last month, the most since May 2010, amid concern global economic growth is slowing as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis spreads and after Standard & Poor’s cut the U.S. government’s credit rating.

Budget Deficit in U.S. Grew to $134.2 Billion in August on Calendar Effect (Source: Bloomberg)
The U.S. government’s budget deficit widened in August, primarily reflecting a calendar- related jump in spending compared with the same month last year. The gap climbed to $134.2 billion last month, exceeding the August 2010 shortfall of $90.5 billion, according to the Treasury Department’s monthly budget statement issued in Washington. For the fiscal year to date, the deficit increased to $1.23 trillion, less than at the same point in 2010. Improved income-tax collections and efforts to cut spending signal the deficit will stop climbing, according to government and Wall Street analysts. The drive to limit debt prompted President Obama to send a $447 billion job-growth package to Congress this week that he stressed would be paid for with offsetting reductions in outlays and increases in tax revenue over the next decade.

Falling Import Prices Provide Household Relief (Source: Bloomberg)
Prices of goods imported into the U.S. fell in August for the second time in three months as the cost of oil and food dropped while autos stabilized. The 0.4 percent decline in the import-price index followed a 0.3 percent increase in July, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists projected a 0.8 percent decrease, according to the median of 52 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Prices excluding fuel rose 0.2 percent. Slower growth in Europe and emerging economies like China, together with less U.S. demand, may restrain the cost of goods from abroad. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke last week said “transitory” influences that had pushed up some prices will wane, and that the central bank had tools to spur growth if necessary

Small-Business Confidence in U.S. Falls to 13-Month Low as Demand Slows (Source: Bloomberg)
Confidence among U.S. small businesses dropped to a 13-month low in August as fewer companies projected better economic conditions and improving sales, a private survey found. The National Federation of Independent Business’s optimism index decreased to 88.1, the weakest reading since July 2010 and the sixth-consecutive decline, from 89.9 in July. The number of small-business owners saying they expected the economy will improve six months from now fell to the lowest level since 1980. “Hope for improvement in the economy faded even further through the month,” William Dunkelberg, the group’s chief economist, said in a statement accompanying the index report. “With such a dim outlook, owners are not going to do a lot of hiring or expanding.”

Treasuries Snap Two-Day Slide Before Retail Sales, Producer Price Reports (Source: Bloomberg)
Treasury snapped a two-day drop before government reports today economists said will show retail sales slowed and producer prices failed to increase in August. The U.S. is scheduled to sell $13 billion of 30-year bonds today, the best-performing Treasuries in 2011. The longest maturities have benefitted most as slowing U.S. economic growth and a debt crisis in Europe increased demand for the relative safety of American debt, while shorter maturities were anchored by the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate. “The bullish momentum can continue,” said Tomohisa Fujiki, an interest-rate strategist at BNP Paribas Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo. “Our economist is forecasting that the U.S. is going to shrink in the fourth quarter and that will help Treasuries.” BNP’s U.S. unit is one of the 20 primary dealers that trade directly with the Fed.

For Deficit Talks, the $705 Billion Bipartisan Solution: View (Source: Bloomberg)
Much has been made of the idea of President Barack Obama reaching a grand bargain with Republicans on a deficit-cutting package. Just this week, 60 business leaders and former officials urged the congressional supercommittee to “go big” by adding trillions more to its deficit-reduction target of $1.2 trillion. It’s a laudable goal, one we have endorsed in the past, yet with elections only 14 months off increasingly unrealistic. Instead of aiming for the sun, the White House and lawmakers should settle for a planet, even a moon. They should find the areas of agreement -- yes, there are quite a few -- and incorporate them into a package. Such a mini-deal would go a long way toward restoring faith, at home and abroad, in the U.S.’s ability to govern itself.
Many good ideas live on common ground. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, part of the New America Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan policy institute, recently outlined 40-plus proposals from House Republicans and various bipartisan panels, including the deficit commission led by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles. They also listed ideas very nearly agreed on (until a last-minute blowup) during this summer’s debt-limit negotiations between the White House and Republicans.

U.S. Stocks Advance, Erasing Earlier Loss, Following European Bank Rally (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a second day, as French banks eased concerns over their access to funding and investors watched for signs of progress in taming Europe’s debt crisis. All 10 main industries in the S&P 500 advanced as gains were led by industrial, raw material and technology companies. The Dow Jones Transportation Average, a proxy for the U.S. economy, jumped 3.4 percent as airlines rose. Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) added more than 1 percent, following a rally in European lenders. Aetna Inc. (AET) jumped 5.4 percent as the health insurer said profit will probably beat its forecast. The S&P 500 increased 0.9 percent to 1,172.87 at 4 p.m. in New York, after falling as much as 0.4 percent. The gauge has risen 1.6 percent in two days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 44.73 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,105.85 today.

Japanese Stocks Advance for Second Day as Concerns Over Europe Crisis Ease (Source: Bloomberg)
Japanese stocks gained for a second day as French banks dismissed concerns over their access to funds, easing concern Europe’s debt crisis will worsen. Sony Corp. (6758), a consumer electronics exporter that depends on Europe for more than 20 percent of its revenue, gained 2.8 percent. Inpex Corp. (1605), the nation’s largest oil explorer by market value, climbed 2.3 percent after crude prices yesterday rose to a six-week high. Tokyo Electric Power Co. led utilities lower after analysts said Japan’s new trade minister may take a tougher stance toward power monopolies. The Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average gained 0.5 percent to 8,656.39 as of 9:27 a.m. in Tokyo. The broader Topix advanced 0.3 percent to 751.73, with more than twice as many shares advancing as declining.

Maersk Lured by $1.5 Trillion in 2020 Asia-Africa Trade: Freight Markets (Source: Bloomberg)
A record surge in trade between Asia and Africa to as much as $1.5 trillion by 2020 is prompting companies including AP Moeller-Maersk A/S and Deutsche Post AG (DPW) to expand shipping links between the continents. Chinese and Indian demand for commodities from coal to copper and African purchases of such items as automobiles and rice are set to fuel the fivefold rise in trade from $304 billion in 2010, said Anil K. Gupta, who holds the Michael Dingman Chair in Global Strategy & Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland in College Park. “Africa has the resources that Asia needs,” said Gupta, who is a visiting professor for the Fontainebleau, France-based business school INSEAD, co-wrote the book “Getting China and India Right” and studied in India. “Africa now has an historic opportunity to transform its development, and Asia has begun to look at Africa as a market of high growth potential.”

Russia Sees Stalling Economy, Plunging Ruble With $60 a Barrel Oil Price (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil at $60 a barrel may halt Russia’s two-year economic expansion next year, triggering a “substantial” devaluation of the ruble, the Economy Ministry said, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg. Gross domestic product may shrink as much as 1.4 percent next year under a negative scenario that projects a “world recession” cutting the average price of Urals crude by almost a half from the current level, according to the report, submitted to the government for approval last week. The price of Urals, the nation’s chief export oil blend, has averaged $109.35 this year and was at $114.23 yesterday.
A reliance on raw materials, which President Dmitry Medvedev called “humiliating” and “primitive,” has left the economy vulnerable to dropping global demand for its commodity exports. Russia’s sovereign rating, which was last raised by Moody’s Investors Service in 2008, is exposed to sudden changes in the price of oil, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s said as they kept the credit grade unchanged in the past two weeks.

Euro Holds Four-Day Loss Versus Yen as Greece Concerns Haunt Bond Auctions (Source: Bloomberg)
The euro maintained a four-day decline against the yen on concern Greece’s debt woes will raise borrowing costs for other countries in the region including Spain, which is due to sell bonds tomorrow. The euro was little changed against the greenback before Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou holds a conference call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy today. The dollar held a two-day slide against the yen before reports that may show U.S. retail sales and wholesale costs moderated in August, adding to signs of a slowing recovery in the world’s largest economy. “Over the next week or two, the bias would be to the downside because you keep seeing a deterioration in sentiment and that’s pressuring the euro lower,” said Mike Burrowes, a currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand Ltd. in Wellington.

European Stocks Rebound From Two-Year Low as Financial Shares Lead Advance (Source: Bloomberg)
European stocks rose for the first time in three days, with the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index rebounding from a two-year low, as banking shares and carmakers advanced. A gauge of European lenders climbed 3.6 percent as Societe Generale SA and Deutsche Bank AG jumped more than 8 percent. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) and Daimler AG (DAI) led gains in European carmakers, both increasing more than 2 percent. Cairn Energy Plc fell 8.2 percent, for the largest drop on the Stoxx 600, after abandoning its second oil well in less than two months.
The Stoxx 600 jumped 0.9 percent to 220.87 at the 4:30 p.m. close in London, having swung between gains and losses more than 10 times today. The gauge has still fallen 24 percent from this year’s peak on Feb. 17 as European and U.S. economic reports trailed forecasts, adding to concern that the global economic recovery is at risk. The retreat has left the gauge trading at 9.2 times the estimated earnings of its companies, near the lowest valuation since March 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

U.K. Inflation Accelerates to 4.5%, Meets Estimates as Clothes Prices Jump (Source: Bloomberg)
U.K. inflation accelerated in August as the end of seasonal discounts boosted prices for items such as clothes and furniture. Consumer prices rose 4.5 percent from a year earlier, the fastest in three months, compared with 4.4 percent in July, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. That matched the median estimate of 34 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. A separate report showed exports and imports rose to record levels in July. The Bank of England left its key interest rate at a record low last week as policy makers attempted to steer a path between a faltering recovery and inflation that’s more than double their goal. While the central bank forecasts price growth may accelerate to 5 percent in the coming months, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. have said the central bank may resume emergency asset purchases by November to boost growth.

Greece Should ‘Default Big’: Blejer (Source: Bloomberg)
Mario Blejer, who managed Argentina’s central bank in the aftermath of the world’s biggest sovereign default, said Greece should halt payments on its debt to stop a deterioration of the economy that threatens the European Union. “This debt is unpayable,” Blejer, who was also an adviser to Bank of England Governor Mervyn King from 2003 to 2008, said in an interview in Buenos Aires. “Greece should default, and default big. A small default is worse than a big default and also worse than no default.” World Bank and International Monetary officials will meet in Washington Sept. 23-25 as European Union officials work to keep the currency union from unraveling and the Greek crisis worsens. Europe is facing “a full-blown banking crisis” said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., in an interview yesterday.

Italian Borrowing Cost Rises at Auction as Investors Shun Indebted Nations (Source: Bloomberg)
Italian borrowing costs jumped at a 6.5 billion-euro ($8.8 billion) bond auction as contagion from Europe’s debt crisis leaves investors shunning the region’s most-indebted nations. The Rome-based Treasury sold 3.9 billion euros of a new benchmark five-year bond to yield 5.6 percent, up from 4.93 percent when similar-maturity securities were sold on July 14. Demand was 1.28 times the amount offered, down from 1.93 times at the last sale. The Treasury, which fell short of its maximum target of 7 billion euros, also sold 2.6 billion euros of bonds maturing in 2018 and 2020.
Investors have dumped Italian debt as divisions among European governments over how best to fight the region’s debt crisis sparked concern the contagion would spread to the bloc’s third-biggest economy. Bonds have dropped even after the government passed a 54 billion-euro austerity plan that failed to ease concerns that weak growth would lead to a credit rating downgrade and hurt efforts to cut Europe’s second-biggest debt.

Spain Faces Rating Risks on ‘Downside’ as Regions Lag Targets, Fitch Says (Source: Bloomberg)
Spain faces risks “on the downside” to its credit rating as growth slows and regional governments fall behind schedule on deficit targets, Fitch Ratings Director Douglas Renwick said. “Risks for the credit rating are clearly on the downside,” London-based Renwick said in a telephone interview yesterday. “The regional deficit performance adds to pressure on the central government to make the needed cuts.” Fitch rates Spain AA+ with a “negative” outlook, and Renwick said weaker growth, failure to meet deficit targets, or larger-than-forecast use of public funds to rescue banks could be “clear triggers for the rating.” Moody’s Investors Service has an Aa2 rating on Spain and Standard & Poor’s rates it AA.

Greece Has 98% Chance of Default on Euro-Region Sovereign Woes (Source: Bloomberg)
Greece has a 98 percent chance of defaulting on its debt in the next five years as Prime Minister George Papandreou fails to reassure investors his country can survive the euro-region crisis. “Everyone’s pricing in a pretty near-term default and I think it’ll be a hard event,” said Peter Tchir, founder of hedge fund TF Market Advisors in New York. “Clearly this austerity plan is not working.” It costs a record $5.8 million upfront and $100,000 annually to insure $10 million of Greece’s debt for five years using credit-default swaps, up from $5.5 million in advance on Sept. 9, according to CMA. Greek bonds plunged, sending the 10- year yield to 25 percent for the first time.

New Zealand Economy to Surge as Aussie Falters (Source: Bloomberg)
The economic outlooks for Australia and New Zealand are diverging the most in at least five years in the bond market. Investors expect the central bank to boost New Zealand’s key interest rate 45 basis points within a year, the biggest forecast rise in the developed world, as the country rebounds from its deadliest earthquake in eight decades, Credit Suisse Group AG indexes show. Australia will make the biggest cuts by lowering borrowing costs 140 basis points, the data show. The gap between the gauges was 195 basis points Aug. 22, the most since the indexes began in 2006.
New Zealand’s “growth is generally better balanced than in Australia and policy setting is more stimulatory,” said Jonathan Cunliffe, London-based head of global macro strategy at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, which manages $298 billion worldwide. “We would have a preference for owning long-dated Australian government bonds versus their New Zealand counterparts.”

Brazilian Retail Sales Jumped the Most This Year as Demand Peaks in July (Source: Bloomberg)
Retail sales in Brazil jumped the most this year in July as a strong currency and near-full employment buoyed consumer demand. July sales increased 1.4 percent, beating 24 of 32 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of analysts whose median estimate was 1 percent. Sales rose 7.1 percent from a year ago, the national statistics agency said. Today’s number shows that Brazil’s tight labor market continues to boost consumer confidence, said Flavio Serrano, senior economist at Espirito Santo Investment Bank in Sao Paulo. This makes it unlikely that policy makers will be able to cut borrowing costs much beyond January, he said.

Thai, Indonesian Stocks Farthest From 2008-2009 Lows, Credit Suisse Says (Source: Bloomberg)
Thai and Indonesian stock markets are the farthest from 2008/9 lows, based on current price-to- book, Credit Suisse Group AG said. Thailand traded at 2.24 times price-to-book and Indonesia at 3.43 times as of Sept. 12, more than double their 2008/9 lows, Sakthi Siva and Kin Nang Chik, analysts at Credit Suisse, wrote in a report dated yesterday. The stock markets closest to their 2008/9 lows are Israel, Brazil, Egypt and MSCI China, with the latter being just 1 percent above its low in that period, they wrote. “Significantly, Europe’s price-to-book of 1.27 times is still 14 percent above the 2008/09 lows of 1.11 times,” they wrote.

Nomura Preparing 5% Job Reductions in Europe (Source: Bloomberg)
Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604), Japan’s largest brokerage, is preparing to trim about 5 percent of jobs in Europe to reduce costs, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The cuts may be announced as early as today, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is confidential. Fewer than 400 positions will be eliminated globally, with the majority in Europe, one of the people said. Nomura joins Bank of America Corp. (BAC), HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and global rivals in trimming jobs as faltering economic growth and Europe’s debt crisis threaten to curb trading income and investment-banking revenue. The Tokyo-based company, which bought Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s Asian and European units in 2008, said on July 29 that it plans to reduce expenses at its wholesale unit by about $400 million annually.