Monday, July 30, 2012

20120730 1127 Global Markets & Commodities Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares extend gains on stimulus hopes
TOKYO, July 30 (Reuters) - Asian shares extended their gains on Monday, supported by expectations the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank  will deliver new measures to underpin their fragile economies.
"It (the GDP) contained enough weakness to support the Fed's commitment to an exceptionally long period of nearly zero overnight interest rates," said Richard Hastings, macro strategist at Global Hunter Securities.

COMMODITIES-Stimulus, euro hopes too late to prevent weekly loss
NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - Commodities rose the most in over a week on Friday, but a renewed rally in drought-stricken grain markets and growing hopes for further global stimulus came too late to prevent the sector's first weekly decline in over a month.
"Financial markets see a benign mix of gently rising risk appetite as worries over an imminent euro zone disaster ease and prospects for another U.S. stimulus increase," said Carsten Fritsch, oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

Oil market playing chicken with Saudi Arabia
(Robert Campbell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.)
NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - Crude oil has shown great resilience in the face of unsupportive data over the last month, bolstered by traders' optimism that central banks will prime the economic pump yet again by printing more money.
Even traders who acknowledge that sentiment may have lifted crude temporarily out of alignment with fundamentals say they have to keep buying. Momentum can be friendly, after all.
The trick, of course, is knowing when to stop chasing the crowd, because when sentiment shifts, the reckoning can be brutal.

OIL-Brent holds above $106, eyes on US, Europe stimulus
SINGAPORE, July 30 (Reuters) - Brent crude held above $106 per barrel on Monday, after rising for four straight sessions on hopes the United States and Europe will this week announce new measures to shore up their fragile economies, boosting the outlook for oil demand.
"If unemployment starts to worsen, you can be sure that the FOMC are going to step in and inject more stimulus into the economy," said Tony Nunan, a Tokyo-based risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp.

POLL-Iran tensions to keep oil above $100 into 2013
July 26 (Reuters) - Fewer analysts project oil prices at $100 or less over the next two years this month than last, as Iranian tensions and expectations of money printing by the global central banks outweighed concerns about economic growth.
A Reuters poll showed on Friday that eight of 30 respondents in the monthly survey forecast Brent crude to average $100 a barrel or less in 2013 and six of 19 analysts expect the same in 2014.

Japan's Iran crude imports drop 33.9 pct y/y in June
TOKYO, July 30 (Reuters) - Japan's crude imports from Iran fell 33.9 percent in June from a year earlier, as refiners reduced purchases from the Islamic Republic before the imposition of EU sanctions from July 1.
Customs-cleared imports from Iran fell to 812,693 kilolitres (170,389 barrels per day), Ministry of Finance data showed on Monday.

NATURAL GAS-US Aug natgas futures expire down 3 pct, longs take profits
NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures, pressured by some long liquidation or profit taking ahead of the August contract expiration, ended lower on Friday, but supportive inventory data and warm weather forecasts for the next two weeks helped limit the downside.
"Prices were drifting a little lower late this week ahead of expiration, but we've had a lot of warm weather, and I haven't seen any reports calling for a sizeable break in the heat," said Tom Saal, senior vice president at INTL Hencorp Futures.

EURO COAL-Prices rise 50c-$1/T but discounts deepen
LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - Physical prompt European coal prices rose by around 50 cents to $1.00 a tonne on Friday, bolstered by strong swaps values, but weak fundamentals could reassert themselves soon and pull prices down, traders and utilities said.
"Fixed prices have gone up today but the discounts to indexes have increased," one European trader said. "These prices are not justified by fundamentals," the trader said.

No comments: