GLOBAL MARKETS: Asian shares crawl higher; euro retreats
SINGAPORE, April 8 (Reuters) - Asian shares inched up on Friday, as it appeared a strong aftershock in Japan's earthquake-ravaged northeast that hit U.S. and European markets had not done major damage.
The euro retreated from 14-month highs after the European Central Bank's widely expected interest rate rise and a broad sell-off in the yen stalled.
Oil : Oil rises to 2-1/2-yr high on Mideast turmoil
NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - Oil prices ended at 2-1/2-year highs on Thursday as supply worries tied to fighting in Libya and Middle East turmoil overshadowed demand concerns spurred by a boost in euro zone interest rates and as a major aftershock struck Japan.
"At current crude oil prices, the risk is turning more and more to the amount of potential demand destruction,' Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob said.
NATURAL GAS: Natural gas falls 5th day, hit by EIA, technicals
NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - Front-month U.S. natural gas futures ended lower on Thursday for a fifth straight day, pressured by increasingly bearish technicals and a government report showing a smaller-than-expected weekly inventory draw.
"The (EIA) draw was a little on the light side and bearish, but last week's (12 bcf) build really made it clear how much gas was around. It's still a very loose market," a Massachusetts-based trader said.
EURO COAL: ARA prices fall 75c, Pacific coal offered
LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - European physical coal prices fell slightly by around 75 cents on Thursday but looked likely to come under near-term downward pressure from Australian and South African cargoes expected to be brought to Europe, traders and utilities said.
"Given the right freight -- and there are plenty of cape shipowners who desperately want to get their ships into the Atlantic where all the action is -- you can get better prices in Europe for Australian coal," one trader said.
COMMODITIES: Corn to new high but ends lower; new peak in gold
NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures set new record highs on Thursday before ending slightly lower on profit-taking ahead of a key government crop report, and gold finished higher after hitting all-time peaks for a third straight day.
"From an inflation-fighting standpoint, things are going to have to get a lot more serious before it starts to spook investors," Matthew Zeman, chief trader at Chicago's Kingsview Financial, said, referring to the ECB hike. "A 25 basis-point hike is not going to have a huge impact."
IMF warns oil becoming scarcer and pricier
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Thursday warned that the global economy was entering a period of scarcer oil that could drive prices up rapidly.
In new analysis by the Washington-based global financial institution, the IMF said market tensions were increasing between growing demand for oil from fast-growing emerging market economies, like China, and production constraints due to maturing oil fields.
Libya rebel oil exec urges NATO to protect fields
BENGHAZI, Libya, April 7 (Reuters) - An oil executive in east Libya said on Thursday rebels wanted more NATO air strikes to defend oilfields in rebel areas after attacks by Muammar Gaddafi's troops this week forced them to halt production.
Two employees of the Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO) are still missing after Gaddafi forces attacked Misla field with rockets, setting fire to at least one oil tank, the company's information manager, Abdeljalil Mayuf, told
Reuters on Thursday.
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