20110815 1141 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS: Stocks rise on Wall Street cues; franc tumbles
HONG KONG, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Asian stocks climbed on Monday following modest gains on Wall Street while the franc tumbled against the euro and the dollar as some investors picked up bargains, though overall sentiment remained fragile after a wild week in financial markets.  "We remain CHF bears in the medium run - we agree with the SNB's view that it is "massively overvalued" - but, this week, we are not expecting the recent appreciation of EUR/CHF to hold," said Paul Robinson, strategist at Barclays Capital.

OIL: NYMEX-Crude stays mostly steady after slight fall
TOKYO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures were steady on Monday after settling down slightly, taking cues from a slump in consumer confidence in the United States. Oil futures and equities markets were buffeted at the start of last week, after the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating by Standard & Poor's.   The weekly U.S. oil inventory report lifted oil, showing   a surprise sharp drop in U.S. crude stockpiles and slips in   refined product stocks.

Gas prices drop nearly 9 cts at US pumps-Lundberg
NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The average price of gasoline in the United States fell by 8.98 cents over the past three weeks due mainly to declines in the crude oil market, according to the nationwide Lundberg Survey.
The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline declined to $3.61 on Aug. 12, according to a survey of about 2,500 gas stations in the continental U.S.

Iran sees return to normal oil exports to India in August -Fars
TEHRAN, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Iran hopes oil deliveries to India will return to a normal level now a long-running payment problem has been resolved, the head of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Co. said in an interview published on Sunday.
Talking to the semi-official Fars news agency, Mohsen Ghamsari, confirmed that all Indian customers had started to pay debts that had built up over the year and said if there had been a slowdown in supply in August due to the dispute, that was now over.

US oil speculators cut long bets as price dips-CFTC
NEW YORK, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions on NYMEX to the lowest in over eight months in the week to Aug. 9, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.
The speculator group cut its total net long position by 24,078 positions to 153,611 contracts during the period, when NYMEX front-month crude prices  fell more than 15 percent.

China gasoline exports to slide further in second half
SINGAPORE/BEIJING, Aug 8 (Reuters) - A fall in China's gasoline exports is likely to accelerate in the second half of the year as growth in local demand and reduced refinery runs slash the volumes available for overseas sales.
Reduced sales by Asia's second-biggest exporter could potentially lift gasoline refining margins after a fall from May's two-year high, as demand from top importers such as Indonesia increases.

NATURAL GAS: NYMEX-Natural gas ends down 1 pct as forecasts moderate
NEW YORK, Aug 12 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures ended lower on Friday, pressured by concerns about record high gas production and moderating extended weather forecasts despite continued heat in Texas and the Southwest. "We got a good pop Thursday after the storage report, but we couldn't get above yesterday's high, which could mean we're going to test support again in the $3.80s. The weather looks a little bearish now," said Steve Mosley at SMC Advisory Services.

EURO COAL: Prices up $1 on firmer buying
LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal prices rose around $1 on Friday, help by fresh buying and more positive sentiment on the wider oil market.  "We have seen a little of extra buying interest and one particular buyer has been more aggressive in the last day or two which has helped push things up a little bit," one European dealer said.

COMMODITIES-Markets mixed after quiet end to tumultuous week
NEW YORK, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Commodities ended mixed on Friday as markets took a breather after a volatile week that started wtih a plunge and then a vigorous rebound that brought a key market index back to even. "There seems to be a little bit of confidence coming back in after the falls earlier in the week, although it looks like there will still be a bit of volatility," said Simon Wardell, an oil analyst at IHS Global Insight in Englewood, Colorado.