Oil : Oil steady, market eyes Libya, Mideast
NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices steadied on Thursday after spiking in early trade on supply worries amid fighting in Libya and growing unrest in the Middle East.
Trading was volatile and volume thin as investors awaited the next turn of events in the Middle East and as they also weighed developments surrounding Japan's nuclear crisis.
NATURAL GAS: Natgas ends down, off 7-week high; EIA disappoints
NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - Front-month U.S. natural gas futures closed lower on Thursday after a government report failed to show a big weekly inventory draw, triggering a profit-taking sell-off after prices hit a seven-week high in early trade.
"I didn't see the report (EIA draw) as that bearish, but it could have triggered profit taking after recent gains or book squaring ahead of expiration next Tuesday" of the April contract, a Texas-based trader said.
COMMODITIES: Oil, metals off; grains surge
NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil and gold broke a six-day winning streak to close down on Thursday as investors took profit after the markets ran into technical resistance.
"If the business sector's expansion momentum stalls, this (will be) bad news, creating a risk of disappointing employment gains in coming months," said Dan Dorrow, head of research at Faros Trading in Stamford, Connecticut.
Brent heads for 3rd straight weekly gain, up 1.7 pct, on Mideast
SINGAPORE, March 25 (Reuters) - Brent crude rose towards $116 on Friday ahead of protests planned in Bahrain, heading for a third straight weekly gain and up 1.7 percent since western powers last weekend launched a military campaign in Libya as turmoil flared in Yemen and Syria.
"So long as ongoing problems in the Middle East continue to elevate risks of a further supply disruption, there is a strong likelihood of a price spike in the second quarter as the market demands additional oil to meet summer demand," said JP Morgan analysts headed by Lawrence Eagles.
Malaysia in talks to sell crude to Japan power plants - trade
SINGAPORE, March 25 (Reuters) - Malaysian state oil firm Petronas is in talks with Japanese buyers to sell crude for burning in oil-fired power plants after a massive earthquake and tsunami damaged facilities in Japan causing electricity shortage, trade sources said on Friday.
The producer could supply medium sweet crude such as Kikeh and Penara from storage which could be loaded in April or sell spot cargoes for May, they said.
U.S.grains, soy extend rally on weather, healthy demand
BEIJING, March 25 (Reuters) - - U. S. grains and soy extended a rally during early trading on Friday after a gain of three percent on concerns over dry weather and brisk demand from Japan and China.
Chicago Board of Trade wheat rose 0.57 percent while corn edged up 0.32 percent and soy was up 0.28 percent by 0017 GMT.
EU cleared 364,000 tonnes wheat exports this week
PARIS, March 24 (Reuters) - The European Union this week granted export licences for 364,000 tonnes of soft wheat, taking the total since the beginning of the 2010/11 (July-June) season to 15.0 million tonnes, official data showed on Thursday.
The total so far this season compared with 13.0 million tonnes of export licences cleared by the same stage in 2009/10.
Rain pounds Brazil center-west soy harvest - Somar
SAO PAULO, March 24 (Reuters) - Heavy rainfall drenched most of the big soybean producing states in Brazil's center-west grain belt in recent days with the region in full harvest, but skies should start to clear on Thursday, forecaster Somar said.
The southern growing region of No. 1 soy state Mato Grosso received 95 millimeters (3.7 inches) of rain over the past three days, with the central region of the state getting 58 mm.
Gold steady on euro zone woes; technicals pressure
SINGAPORE, March 25 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady on Friday below record highs hit in the previous session, as worries about euro zone's debt crisis and Middle East turmoil supported sentiment, but its price may be facing headwind at key technical levels.
"The market will remain choppy, as the trend is not very clear even with support from the Libyan crisis and other factors," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.
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