OIL: Crude steady after closing at 25-month high
TOKYO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures were steady on Thursday after closing at a 25-month high a day earlier, getting support from U.S. government data showing an unexpectedly heavy drawdown in crude and product inventories last week.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a 3.3 million-barrel drawdown last week, compared with forecasts for a 1.4 million-barrel build.
COMMODITY MARKETS: Hit by rebounding dollar but oil bucks sell-off
NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Most commodities fell on Wednesday as money flows into the sector changed course on a recovering dollar, but oil bucked the sell-off with a rally to two-year highs after U.S. crude stockpiles fell.
The drama was concentrated in illiquid niche markets like cotton and silver futures, which ended down 5.6 percent and 7 percent respectively, after leading the sector in recent months. Gold futures ended lower as well, mostly reflecting Tuesday's aftermarket sell-off from new peaks over $1,400 an ounce.
GLOBAL MARKETS: Dollar hits 1-month high, U.S. stocks rebound
NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The dollar hit a one-month high on Wednesday after data pointed to an improving U.S. labor market while Wall Street rose as investors set aside recent worries whether a rally would continue.
"The U.S. yield curve has steepened, and since the whole world has had the same position on, we've got a lot of end-of-the-year, risk management going on," said Sebastien Galy, senior currency strategist at BNP Paribas.
U.S. oil, product stocks fall sharply - EIA data
NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. crude and oil product inventories fell sharply last week as crude imports fell and fuel demand rose from year-ago levels, according to a weekly report from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Domestic crude stocks fell 3.27 million barrels to 364.9 million barrels in the week to Nov. 5, while crude imports fell 489,000 barrels per day to 8.06 million bpd, the data showed.
China Oct commodity imports slump after strong Sept
BEIJING, Nov 10 (Reuters) - China's imports of major commodities slumped in October after a surprisingly strong September, with crude oil shipments recoiling 30 percent and copper volumes at the lowest level for a year.
Analysts were quick to point out seasonal factors that could be at work, such as the week-long holiday at the start of October and the rush to ship supplies to China before the onset of winter, when transport networks often get snarled and domestic production slows.
China's 2010 inflation to exceed 3 pct-report
SHANGHAI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - China's full-year inflation rate will exceed the government's target and come in at slightly above three percent this year, the Shanghai Securities News reported, citing a top official from the National Reform and Development Commission (NDRC).
The government has set an inflation target ceiling of three percent this year, but inflationary pressure "has been more severe than expected", said Zhang Ping, head of the NDRC.
China raises bank reserves as cash inflows surge
BEIJING, Nov 10 (Reuters) - China on Wednesday ordered its banks to put more money aside as required reserves, a tightening step that mops up some of the cash that has been streaming into the country and posing a growing inflationary threat.
Although Chinese officials have directed their ire at U.S. monetary easing as a cause of unwanted speculative inflows, data earlier in the day provided a reminder that a whopping trade surplus is the main source of Beijing's liquidity headache.
US wholesale inventory surge implies weakness ahead
WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - U.S. wholesale inventories jumped more than expected in September, suggesting output will remain soft through year-end as businesses try to trim stocks.
Inventories surged 1.5 percent after an upwardly revised 1.2 percent gain in August, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had been expecting a 0.7 percent increase.
Global commodity AUM rises 9 pct in Q3-BarclayHedge
NEW YORK, Nov. 9 (Reuters) - Commodity trading advisors (CTAs) saw global assets under management rise by 9 percent in the third quarter to $245.9 billion from $223.4 billion in the second quarter, fund tracker BarclayHedge said on Tuesday.
Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge, told Reuters that interest in commodities investment as continued to rise, despite returns sometimes disappointing.
PRECIOUS-Gold rises over $1,400 on euro zone debt concerns
LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Gold rallied by 0.5 percent on Wednesday, after its choppiest trading session in six months the day before, as concerns about euro zone debt reignited safe-haven buying, while silver pared Tuesday's 3 percent drop.
Spot gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,400.05 an ounce by 1033 GMT, off the all-time peak of $1,424.10.
FOREX-Euro edges up vs dollar on Mideast demand
LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The euro rose against the dollar on Wednesday, boosted by Middle East buying, while key technical support helped curb selling of the single currency, seen in the past few days.
The euro recovered from a three-day losing streak versus the dollar, as investors speculated more quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve will continue to sting the U.S. currency as the European Central Bank sticks to its current monetary policy.
U.S. wheat drops 2 pct on dollar, weather outlook
SINGAPORE, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures slid more than 2 percent to a near one-week low as a strengthening dollar and an outlook for rains in U.S. winter crop areas weighed on the market.
"The factor that may be more of an influence at the moment is the continued movement in the U.S. dollar," said Luke Mathews, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
China data hurts stocks, copper; dollar rises
LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - World stocks and copper prices fell on concerns about softening demand from China after slower-than-expected import data, while the dollar recovered further and hit its highest level in two weeks.
"Growth in China imports has slowed down, that will be a bit of a concern for the market," Heino Ruland, strategist at Ruland Research in Frankfurt, said. "But earnings have been better than expected and any dip could be a buying opportunity."
Soaring food prices demand better output -UN body
HANOI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - A rise in commodity prices could spark unrest and is troubling confirmation that countries need to boost their food production, the head of a United Nations agency for agricultural development said.
A food price index compiled by another U.N. agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, registered its highest level in October since mid-2008, when soaring prices fed social unrest in Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere
