20110902 1109 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS - Bonds, Swiss franc rise on recession jitters
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Government debt and the Swiss franc gained on Thursday after slowing factory output around the world renewed worries that the global economy is on the brink of recession, sparking a rally in safe-haven assets.  "At the end of the day, this does not remove the need for more stimulus from the Fed," Kathy Lien, director of research at GFT Forex in New York, said of the data. "The key is still job growth."

Brent dips on weak economy, US crude up on storm
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Oil in London fell on Thursday on concerns about the European economy, while U.S. crude rose slightly as a brewing storm in the Gulf of Mexico shut nearly 6 percent of output in the key producing region.
"The stock market is lower and helping to pull U.S. crude back and the weak German and French data weighed on Brent," said Dan Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.

US LNG imports dive 44 pct, hit 8-1/2 year low-DOE
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) - U.S. imports of liquefied natural gas in July slid 44 percent to the lowest monthly level in more than eight years as ample U.S. gas supply and low prices deterred shipments, according to Department of Energy data on Thursday.
Imports fell to 20.2 bcf, the slowest since December 2002 and down from 36.3 bcf in July 2010.
U.S. imports have been declining throughout 2011 as shippers send gas to higher-paying markets in Europe and Asia. June imports fell 16 percent, May imports fell 12 percent.

Oil companies brace for possible U.S. Gulf storm
HOUSTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Major oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday shut down offshore platforms and evacuated workers ahead of a storm brewing offshore that was expected to bring flooding to Louisiana over the weekend.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said on Thursday evening that the system had formed into Tropical Depression 13 and was expected to become a tropical storm by the time it crosses the central Louisiana coast late Saturday.

NYMEX - Natural gas ends near flat after seesaw session
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Front-month U.S. natural gas futures ended nearly unchanged on Thursday after a seesaw session, with a bullish inventory report and storm concerns before a long weekend countered by milder weather forecasts.
"What is seemingly offsetting any bullish sentiment from the tropics (or the EIA report) is the latest short-term weather forecast, which is showing the eastern half of the U.S. engulfed in normal to colder-than-normal temperatures," Energy Management Institute's Dominick Chirichella said in a report.