Gold firms on euro debt crisis, tight physicals
SINGAPORE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Bullion edged up in thin trade, with sentiment supported by high oil prices, lingering worries about the severity of the Europea debt crisis and a shortage of gold bars in Asia.
"It's more on the upside. I think physical buying actually provides good support," said Beh Hsia Wah, a dealer at United Overseas Bank in Singapore. "I would say the physical support is there and some buying is there."
Euro gains, but Portugal debt auction looms
SINGAPORE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The euro rose against the dollar, along with Asian stocks, but caution towards the currency is likely to set in ahead of key bond sales by highly indebted euro zone members Portugal and Spain.
"The Portuguese (debt) auction will probably go quite well and that'll likely give the euro a bump up ... temporarily," said Joseph Capurso, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank, late on Tuesday.
Argentina sees China soyoil exports picking up
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 11 (Reuters) - China will keep on buying Argentine soyoil despite a near halt in shipments in recent months that stirred speculation of renewed trade tensions, an Argentine government official said on Tuesday.
China is the world's top soyoil buyer and Argentina is the leading supplier, but Argentine shipments to the Asian country were halted for six months last year in apparent retaliation for the South American country's anti-dumping measures.
U.S. soy up 1 pct, corn steady ahead of key report
SINGAPORE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Chicago soy futures rose more than 1 percent, recovering from a two-week low, while corn was little changed as investors took positions ahead of a key U.S. government report expected to forecast tighter grain and oilseed supplies.
"We are not bullish on soybeans in the longer term but that doesn't mean it will not go higher in the short period," said Ole Houe, a senior manager at FCStone Australia.
Oil steadies above $91, support from supply cuts
SINGAPORE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices steadied above $91following a sharp rally the previous session, supported by the shutdown of two North Sea oil fields and the continued outage of a key Alaskan pipeline.
U.S. gasoline inventories surged by a more-than-expected 7 million barrels last week and crude stocks rose unexpectedly, the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday.
Alyeska receives govt permission to restart pipeline
ANCHORAGE, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Alyeska has received government permission to restart the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which carries 12 percent of U.S. crude, a company spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
"We got the approval we need to restart the pipeline for interim operations," Katie Pesznecker said.
OIL: Oil steadies above $91, support from supply cuts
SINGAPORE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices steadied above $91 on Wednesday following a sharp rally the previous session, supported by the shutdown of two North Sea oil fields and the continued outage of a key Alaskan pipeline.
The disruptions came amid efforts to restart the Trans Alaska Pipeline System's main oil pipeline, which was closed on Saturday by a leak, forcing the shutdown of over 600,000 bpd of output -- nearly 12 percent of U.S. domestic oil production. The pipeline was expected to restart this week.
COMMODITIES: Oil, copper jump; biggest CRB rise in near 2 weeks
NEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Commodities gained their most in nearly two weeks on Tuesday, with copper and oil rising 2 percent each on higher demand outlook, a strong start to the U.S. earnings season and crude oil supply disruptions.
"There are enough question marks out there in the copper market to provide the case that we are going to remain fairly rangebound in the short term," said Nicholas Snowdon, research analyst for base metals at Barclays Capital in New York.
GLOBAL MARKETS: Euro rebounds, oil gains and lifts Wall St
NEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The euro rose on Tuesday on speculation that euro-zone officials could raise the effective lending capacity of the bloc's rescue fund while a surge in oil prices pushed U.S. energy stocks higher.
"There's a big feeling we're going to have $100 barrel oil pretty quickly," said Shawn Hackett, president of Hackett Advisors in Boynton Beach, Florida.
Alaska plans temporary restart of oil pipeline
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Operators sought on Tuesday to temporarily restart Alaska's main oil pipeline to prevent it from freezing and aim to resume normal flows later this week with a bypass of a leak that forced the shutdown of 12 percent of U.S. crude output.
The Trans Alaska Pipeline System, the 800-mile (1,280 kilometer) pipe that usually carries 630,000 barrels of oil per day has been closed since Saturday following a small leak at an oil pumping station.
U.S. sees stronger 2012 world oil demand growth
WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Global oil demand growth will accelerate next year, while non-OPEC production will remain flat, driving oil prices to an average $99 a barrel, the U.S. government said on Tuesday in its first energy forecast for 2012.
The Department of Energy also said U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production would shrink by 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) next year after a 220,000-bpd loss this year, illustrating the challenge of delivering new supply on the same day that a White House commission recommended dramatically stepping up offshore drilling regulations.
Oil Climbs to 1-Week High as U.S. Panel Calls for Drilling Industry Reform (Source : Bloomberg)
Oil traded near a one-week high in New York after a pipeline closure in Alaska threatened supplies and as Japan pledged to buy euro-area bonds, alleviating the region’s debt crisis.
Asia: Feared viral outbreak roils Korean farms (Source: CME)
South Korean farmers and agriculture officials are struggling to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that has forced them to kill about 12% of the nation's swine and a sizable number of cattle. The outbreak, the fourth in South Korea in the past decade and by far the worst, started about six weeks ago and has spread to most regions of the country. On Tuesday, officials estimated more than $1 billion worth of livestock has been lost to the highly contagious viral disease and efforts to stop its rapid spread. "The outbreak is the most serious in Korea's history," said Kim Jae-hong, a veterinary science professor at Seoul National University. "It is hard to predict when we can contain the spread of the disease, but the most important thing right now is to control movement in and out of the farmhouses that are affected, and thoroughly disinfect the cars around the area," he added. South Korean officials are also monitoring the spread of avian flu among chicken farms.
An outbreak of the H5N1 influenza virus was reported in chickens at two farms two weeks ago, likely coming from migratory birds. About 200,000 of the nation's more than 10 million chickens have been culled as a result. Avian flu can spread to humans, but foot-and-mouth disease poses no such risk. With more than 100 confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease in South Korea since late November, veterinarians, students and agriculture officials have been mobilized to participate in the biggest animal culls the country has ever seen. The campaign has killed more than 1.2 million of the nation's 10 million swine and 107,000 of its approximately three million cattle. Vaccinations against the disease are available but, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, must be matched to the specific type and subtype of virus causing the outbreak. In South Korea, officials are scrambling to vaccinate unaffected animals to prevent the further spread of the disease.
Veterinarians and agriculture officials in some areas are also overwhelmed by the scale of the culls. Local media reported incidents of swine being buried alive to speed up the killing, and an agriculture ministry official confirmed some incidents but said they have been few. In Paju, a city northwest of Seoul near the North Korean border, approximately 70% of farms have been forced to cull livestock, a local official said. He said a cold snap, in which temperatures have been below freezing for the past two weeks, contributed to difficulties combating the spread because hoses and pumps for spraying disinfectant have frozen. In South Korea's grocery stores, meat prices and supplies haven't been significantly affected, though economists say they are watching for an impact on meat supplies and shopping during next month's Lunar New Year holiday, when gifts of meat are popular. The disease has damaged the livelihoods of hundreds of farmers.
The government compensates farmers for livestock killed as a result of efforts to contain the disease, but farmers argue the pay isn't enough. Kim Hee-dong, a farmer in Pocheon, a small city northeast of Seoul, said authorities culled his 465 head of cattle on Dec. 30 and 31, then dug four large holes in his field to bury them. "I just couldn't watch it. But I was asked to go out briefly to check out the holes, whether they were all right, and had to witness about 100 head of my cattle lying dead," he said. "I fainted at that moment."
Australian Floods Damage Crops; More Rains Forecast (Source: CME)
Heavy rainfall and flooding that prompted widespread production downgrades and caused considerable damage to crops in Australia's eastern states look set to continue, with the government's Bureau of Meteorology Tuesday posting severe weather warnings for many areas. Premier Anna Bligh declared the entire northeast state of Queensland a disaster zone after massive rains and flash floods to the west of Brisbane city killed nine people Monday. Bligh said the death toll could double, with scores still missing. Heavy rain and local thunderstorms are expected to continue tonight through southern areas of Queensland state, which will lead to more localised flash floods and worsen existing river flooding, the Bureau said late Tuesday. Weeks of rains have already taken a heavy economic toll on Queensland and its booming coal mining industry, with government leaders forecasting roughly A$10 billion (US$9.88 billion) in clean-up costs and lost revenue.
The state's farm sector has also suffered, particularly cotton, other summer crops and sugar. Earlier in the day, Bligh spoke of "enormous disruption" in southern Queensland, including in Brisbane city, where evacuations are already underway in riverside suburbs and in the west end of the central business district near the swollen Brisbane river, which is expected to rise to flood levels later in the week. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from flooded towns in Brisbane's hinterlands. Northern areas in New South Wales are also seeing heavy rains and flash flooding, while severe weather warnings are active for central and western areas of southern Victoria state. Widespread flooding of "biblical proportions" in Queensland has destroyed summer crops across a number of regions since Christmas, Rabobank Australia said Tuesday.
A strong La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific Basin has been responsible for the heavy rainfall in spring and summer in New South Wales and Queensland, resulting in significant delays and downgrades to production of summer and winter crops. With the weather pattern expected to continue, northern Australia will likely experience above-average rainfall for at least another week or two, potentially compounding already severe flooding in Queensland, the Bureau said. "The Queensland floods are caused by what is one of the strongest La Nina events since our records began in the late 19th century," said Professor Neville Nicholls, a senior academic at Monash University and President of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. Rabobank Australia downgraded its production forecast for Australian cotton, sugar and sorghum crops in 2011, and said there are further downside risks, potentially reducing availability for exports.
"Crop downgrades are now widespread throughout Queensland, with floods leaving very few coastal regions untouched," Rabobank said in a report. Cotton and sorghum are the most affected at this stage, it said.
Japan to buy euro debt, Portugal resists bailout
TOKYO/LISBON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Japan promised on Tuesday to buy euro zone bonds this month in a show of support for Europe's struggle with a seething debt crisis.
Portugal, the latest euro zone member in the market's firing line, continued to fend off pressure to seek a bailout. Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said Portugal was doing everything it could to avoid a humiliating EU-IMF financial rescue, already granted to Greece and Ireland.
China overshoots loan target, more tightening seen
BEIJING, Jan 11 (Reuters) - China overshot its bank loan and money growth targets last year, but finished 2010 in battle mode against inflation, putting it on track for tighter financial conditions this year.
At the same time, a $199 billion surge in foreign exchange reserves in the fourth quarter, pushing China's stockpile, already the world's biggest, to $2.85 trillion, showed that money streaming in from abroad will complicate efforts to tighten policy at home.
PRECIOUS-Euro zone debt crisis, China demand boost gold
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Gold rose for a second day on Tuesday, driven by deepening worries about the spread and severity of the European debt crisis, and a pickup in demand from number two consumer China also provided support.
The decline in the gold price to around one-month lows last week has encouraged an improvement in consumer demand in China ahead of the Lunar New Year in early February, pushing premiums for gold bars to their highest in two years.Spot gold rose 0.70 percent to $1,384.00 an ounce by 1200 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery were up 0.8 percent at $1,384.50. The spot price is about 4 percent off December's record high of $1,430.95 an ounce.
FOREX-Euro gets reprieve as Japan to buy euro bonds
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The euro steadied above a four-month trough on Tuesday, after Japan said it may buy about a fifth of the bonds a European rescue fund plans to sell later this month to finance a bailout scheme for Ireland.
But Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda suggested Japan would use its euro cash holdings to buy the bonds, dampening some of the initial excitement from traders who thought the move might involve fresh buying of the European currency.Japan does not disclose the currency breakdown of its $1 trillion reserves but analysts think only a very small portion is in the euro and the impact of the news may not last long.
U.S. corn, soy extend gains; Argentine weather supports
SINGAPORE, Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. corn and soybean futures edged higher , extending gains as concerns over dry weather hurting crops in Argentina continued to support the market.
"It is follow through strength in the corn and soybean market after yesterday's gains as investors are talking about dry weather in Argentina which could hit crop production," said Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Earnings hopes lift stocks, euro steadies
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - World stocks firmed on hopes for a solid earnings season, while the euro hugged recent lows as the markets awaited the next day's debt auction in struggling Portugal.
"The focus is switching to companies' results this week, with earnings due from big U.S. names such as JPMorgan , but the euro zone debt fears will remain in the backdrop and could continue to weigh on banking stocks," said Geraud Missonnier, trader at Saxo Banque in Paris.
South Korea joins global action to boost food supply
SEOUL, Jan 11 (Reuters) - South Korea unveiled steps on Tuesday to combat the threat of rising food prices, joining a flurry of activity as policymakers grow increasingly worried that inflation could derail a global recovery.
Central bankers meeting under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements warned on Monday that rising prices in fast-growing economies were an increasing menace and it was important to anchor inflation expectations.
