GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks firmer but Europe fears still linger
HONG KONG, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Asian stocks snapped a three-day streak of losses on Wednesday as short-covering helped prop up benchmarks, and the euro edged up against the dollar as traders covered some bets against the common currency after a sharp overnight fall.
"As long as we do not see a jolt in the foreign exchange market, short-covering may lift severely battered stocks such as exporters," said Yumi Nishimura, a senior markets analyst at Daiwa Securities. "U.S. ISM data should also help the mood."
Brent up on supply worry, US crude dips with equities
NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Brent crude rose on Tuesday, after three straight declines, as tight North Sea supplies, continuing uncertainty about Libya's oil and more tropical weather threats boosted prices.
"Libya's crude is still not in play and North Sea problems remain supportive for Brent, and U.S. markets are still playing catch-up after being shut," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
Mexico's largest oil refinery halted due to outage
MEXICO CITY, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Mexico's largest oil refinery shut down on Tuesday after a power outage but the state oil monopoly Pemex said it expects operations to resume by the end of the day.
The outage occurred at the 330,000 barrel-per-day capacity Salinas Cruz refinery in the southern state of Oaxaca forcing the company to shut down 26 processing plants for safety reasons, Pemex said in a statement.
NYMEX-Natural gas ends higher on another tropical stir
NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures rose nearly 2 percent on Tuesday, but remained under the key $4 per mmBtu level, as another stir in tropical activity kept traders cautious despite weaker cash gas and crude futures and moderate weather in consuming regions of the nation.
After some production cuts due to Tropical Storm Lee which hit the Gulf of Mexico last week, traders were keeping a close watch on three other low-pressure systems in the early stages of development late Tuesday.
Euro Coal-Steady, few trades seen
LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - European prompt physical coal fell by around 50 cents a tonne on Tuesday for the second day running but such a small movement in prices was negligible, traders and European utilities said.
"It's very slightly weaker but it's quiet and prices are still in the same range," one trader said.
COMMODITIES-Gold hits record, then drops; crop markets slump
NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Gold closed lower on Tuesday as investors took profits after sending the precious metal to record highs in early trade when the Swiss National Bank set an exchange-rate cap on the soaring franc; while crop prices slid as the U.S. dollar rose.
"In theory, this could actually happen in a matter of days," said Frank McGhee, head of precious metals trading at Integrated Brokerage Services in Chicago.
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