GLOBAL MARKETS: Stocks, euro struggle as investors turn risk-averse
HONG KONG, July 18 (Reuters) - The euro and the U.S. dollar slipped to record lows against the Swiss franc on Monday while equities struggled to stay in positive territory as the ongoing debt crises in the U.S. and the euro zone kept investors from adding to their risky assets.
With policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic offering no clear solutions to the markets on their respective debt problems, risk-averse investors are expected to continue piling up perceived safe-haven instruments like gold -- which hit a record high on Monday -- and bonds.
OIL: Oil rises on lower Canadian supply, equities
NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) - Oil rose on Friday on lower supplies for a Canadian export pipeline and Wall Street's advance on favorable results of a stress test on European banks, which offset a rash of weak U.S. economic data.
"There is pre-weekend short-covering going on as nobody wants to be short at this time with so many things going on," said Phil Flynn, analyst with PFBEST Research in Chicago.
NATURAL GAS: Natural gas ends up 4 pct, front breaks resistance
NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures ended sharply higher on Friday, with forecasts for another heatwave next week in the Northeast and Midwest driving the front-month contract above key technical resistance.
"It's supposed to be beastly hot again next week, and the heat is more than offsetting a loose supply-demand balance, but I'd caution against getting too excited," said Steve Mosley at SMC Advisory Services, a commodity trading advisory firm in Arkansas.
EURO COAL: Sep DES ARA trades at $122.75/T
LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal prices remained stable on Friday with few trades seen or fresh news to give the market clear direction, traders and utilities said.
"Volumes have stayed very low and coal's just kept following oil but there are fewer key players active in the market this week," one European utility source said.
COMMODITIES: Heat boosts ags, energy; gold gains on debt fears
NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) - Most major commodities rose on Friday, reversing the previous session's losses, as forecasts for hot weather drove up energy and agriculture prices and mounting fears about debt defaults lured investors into gold.
Still, investors kept one eye on tense negotiations between U.S. political parties over raising the U.S. debt limit, ahead of a possible Aug. 2 default.
Iran to export 2.6 mln litres of gasoline per day
TEHRAN, July 17 (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it would export 2.6 million litres of gasoline per day due to a rise in production and fall in consumption, an official was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.
"Considering the country's gasoline production capacity has increased to 70 million litres per day and consumption dropped to around 54 million, it is now possible to export 2.6 million," said Ali-Reza Zeighami, the head of the state-owned National Iranian Refining and Distribution Co.
Bangladesh to spend $6.17 bln on oil imports
DHAKA, July 17 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will spend $6.17 billion on importing oil in the 2011-12 fiscal year, more than double the previous year, as it buys more fuel at higher cost to fire up new power plants aimed at easing electricity shortages, a senior energy official said.
"This year (July-June) the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will import 7.03 million tonnes of fuel oil, up from 5.4 million in 2010-11," BPC chairman Mohammad Muqtadir Ali told Reuters on Sunday.
Japan power sector oil demand may triple as nuclear output falls
SINGAPORE, July 15 (Reuters) - Japan's demand for crude and oil products to fuel power plants could triple if the country shuts all its nuclear reactors due to growing public safety concerns after the March earthquake and tsunami.
The country's energy policy was left in tatters after the quake caused the worst nuclear accident in 25 years. Japan had planned to increase nuclear power supply to meet 50 percent of demand, from 30 percent before the quake. Now, Prime Minister Naoto Kan is talking about a nuclear-free future.
Libya rebels fighting to capture eastern oil town
MISRATA, Libya, July 17 (Reuters) - Libyan rebel forces on Sunday entered the oil town of Brega and fought street battles there with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, a rebel spokesman said, in the biggest offensive in eastern Libya in weeks.
"The news coming from there is there is a street war going on between Gaddafi troops and the rebels, and 127 are wounded from our side," Abdulrahman Busm, an official in the rebel National Transitional Council, said by telephone.
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