Asian stocks rebounded after U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a $447 billion package to stimulate jobs growth and China said inflation was easing. Hynix Semiconductor Inc. led technology stocks higher on speculation the company will benefit from production cuts by smaller rivals. Unimicron Technology Corp. jumped 6.8 percent in Taipei after saying sales rose last month. China Construction Bank Corp., the nation’s second-largest lender by market value, gained 1.2 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.6 percent even as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke failed to outline any extra measures to shore up flagging economic growth in a speech yesterday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 percent to 122.51 at 11:31 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge reversed an earlier decline of as much as 0.5 percent after Bernanke spoke. The measure is on course to fall 1.4 percent this week, its first weekly decline since Aug. 19. About two stocks rose for each that fell on the 1,017-member index.
GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. stocks slide on Bernanke; euro slumps
NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks fell on Thursday on disappointment that a speech by the Federal Reserve chief lacked details on plans to spur economic growth, while the euro declined on fears the euro zone debt crisis is worsening with Greece failing to meet fiscal targets.
"The markets are going to be disappointed in this and concerned that the Fed is only acknowledging the problems without offering any real solutions," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.
Oil dips as dollar rises; awaits Obama, eyes Nate
NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures fell in choppy trading on Thursday, following Wall Street lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve Chief gave a speech that lacked new steps to spur economic growth, and as the dollar rose sharply.
"The dollar rose against the euro and that pulled down U.S. equities, dragging crude futures lower." said Tom Knight, trader at petroleum product marketeres Truman Arnold in Dallas,
UK oil output falls below 1 million barrels a day
LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - UK oil production fell below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for only the second time in more than 30 years this summer as maintenance exacerbated a decline in output from depleted North Sea oilfields.
The British sector of the North Sea pumped 984,000 bpd of oil in June, down from just over 1 million bpd in May and a peak of more than 2.7 million bpd in 1999, industry data show.
Alaska oil lease sales delayed until December
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas has postponed a trio of North Slope lease sales in hopes of expanding the acreage that will be put on the auction block, state officials said on Thursday.
The lease sales -- for onshore territory in the central North Slope, offshore state territory in the Beaufort Sea and territory in the Brooks Range foothills south of established oil fields -- will be held in December instead of October 26, as was originally scheduled.
Oil price volatility a concern for Asia
SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Oil traders have been the only beneficiaries from this year's sharp swings in energy prices, but even they have been caught off guard at times, falling prey to geopolitics and wider financial market risk appetite swings.
That sums up reflections at Singapore's Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) this week, where oil traders, company executives and business leaders gathered to discuss an increasingly turbulent and volatile trading environment.
Oil producers target Asia as outlook in West bleak
SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Oil producers from Brazil to Azerbaijan are targeting Asia to expand sales as growth falters in the U.S. and Europe, highlighting confidence that the world's fastest-growing energy market will offset any demand slump in industrialised nations.
At Singapore's annual Asia-Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) this week, company executives are still upbeat about booming energy consumption in the region, despite the uncertainty surrounding the pace of global economic growth.
NYMEX-Natural gas ekes out gain despite neutral EIA data
NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures eked out slight gains for a third straight day on Thursday, as an active tropical picture and late-week warm weather in much of the nation outweighed government storage data showing a slightly bigger-than-expected weekly build to inventories.
"The weekly EIA report only affects the market for about five minutes. Utilities decide at the beginning of the injection season how much they're going to put in and they will put that amount in come hell or high water," said Ed Kennedy at INTL Hencorp Futures in Miami.
Euro Coal-S.African trades at $114.60/T
LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - European prompt physical coal prices fell by around 75 cents again on Thursday but the market remained range-bound with few trades reported.
"There's been a bit of utility buying but it's not because they need the coal particularly, just that the discount to swaps makes it a good buy for them," one utility source said.
COMMODITIES-Gold jumps ahead of Obama plan; oil falls
NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Oil and gold diverged a second straight day on Thursday, after a dim view of the U.S. economy by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pushed oil prices lower while gold was boosted by expectations of $300 billion jobs plan by President Barack Obama.
"I'd be interested to see how the President's speech outlines another $300 billion in stimulus to boost the economy, all of which will be bullish for gold," said Sean McGillivray, head of asset allocation at Great Pacific Wealth Management in Grants Pass, Oregon.
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