FOREX-Euro hits 7-week low as debt crisis festers
SINGAPORE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The euro dipped to a fresh seven-week low against the dollar on Friday, struggling to find any traction with markets seeing no end in sight for the euro zone debt crisis.
"It does appear that international asset managers are now pulling out of the euro zone... It hasn't been a panic, but there is an obvious trend," said Gareth Berry, G10 FX analyst for UBS in Singapore, adding that the euro could drop to $1.300 in the next two or three months.
Asian shares, euro fall on Europe deadlock
TOKYO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro fell to seven-week lows as European officials failed to soothe investor fears that the euro zone's debt crisis could trigger a credit crunch if funding costs run out of control.
"Risk appetite is very low and fear factor is very high," said Markus Rosgen, head of Asia strategy at Citigroup. "Basically people are fearful and whenever people are fearful, equities tend to be cheap."
European Stocks Decline as Debt Crisis Deepens, Hungary Downgraded to Junk
European stocks fell, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index extending its longest decline since August, after Hungary lost its investment grade at Moody’s Investors Service and Italy’s short-term borrowing costs surged to a record. U.S. index futures and Asian shares slid. The benchmark Stoxx 600 index dropped 0.2 percent to 219.49 at 8:01 a.m. in London. The gauge declined 0.2 percent yesterday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she remains opposed to joint euro-area bonds. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in December retreated 0.4 percent. U.S. markets were closed yesterday for Thanksgiving and will reopen for half a day’s trading today until 1:00 p.m. in New York. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) fell 1 percent. Italy’s two-year note yield rose to a euro-era record of 7.495 percent today.
Spain and Italy face paying more to borrow for two years than for a decade, echoing shifts that presaged Greece and Portugal seeking aid and suggesting skepticism about their new governments avoiding contagion.
Futures head for weekly declines on euro zone worries
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Reuters) - U.S. grain futures fell, headed for weekly declines, as the lack of conclusive steps by euro zone leaders stoked fears the sovereign debt crisis is spreading to bigger economies including Germany.
"Consumption of commodities will slow down as global growth falters," said Ang Kok Heng, who helps manage about $400 million as chief investment officer at Phillip Capital Management in Kuala Lumpur.
China Q1 2012 soy imports seen up 18.5 pct on year -CNGOIC
BEIJING, Nov 25 (Reuters) - China, the world's top soy buyer, is expected to import about 13 million tonnes of the oilseed in the first quarter of 2012, 18.5 percent higher than the year-ago period, the official China National Grain and Oils Information Centre estimated.
Better crushing margins and recovering seasonal demand are seen spurring imports from November onwards. Imports in November are seen at 5.5 million tonnes and in December at 5 million tonnes, higher than October's 3.81 million tonnes, the centre said in a report.
Argentine farmers say costly credit may hurt output
BUENOS AIRES, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Argentine farmers face higher interest rates on bank loans during a key part of the planting season, which they say could affect world grains supply by reducing local investment in production.
Loans for prefinancing late-year sowing of soy and corn have popped 3 to 4 percentage points higher. The trend started in early October but sped up at the start of this month, after the government adopted controls meant to halt capital flight.
Argentine soy seeding swift, wheat harvest slower
BUENOS AIRES, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Farmers made quick progress to plant Argentina's 2011/2012 soy crop this week thanks to moist soils after weeks of plentiful rain, Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday.
Argentina is a global top soymeal and soyoil exporter and the No. 3 soybean supplier. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sees this season's soy output at 52 million tonnes, while the government sees up to 53 million.
EU clears 352,000 tonnes wheat exports this week
PARIS, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The European Union this week granted export licences for 352,000 tonnes of soft wheat, taking the total since the beginning of the 2011/12 (July-June) season to 6.1 million tonnes, official data showed on Thursday.
The total so far this season compared with 9.6 million tonnes of export licences cleared by the same stage in 2010/11.
New EU sugar exports anger Australia, Brazil producers
BRUSSELS, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The European Union approved on Thursday the export of 700,000 tonnes of "out-of-quota" sugar from Dec. 1, drawing an angry reaction from producers in Australia and Brazil, who accused the bloc of breaching its trade commitments. The EU approved the exports on Thursday, along with the sale of 400,000 tonnes of out-of-quota sugar for food use within the bloc at a reduced levy and the opening of a tendering system for sugar imports from all non-EU countries at reduced duties.
Brent crude holds above $107 on call for Iran oil ban
SINGAPORE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Brent crude held steady above $107 as nagging concerns about a euro zone debt crisis contagion offset threats to supply emerging from France's call for sanctions on Iran's oil exports.
"The European situation is still uncertain," said Tetsu Emori, a commodities fund manager at Astmax Investments in Tokyo. "The crisis is still ongoing and what happened in Germany has made investors quite nervous."
SINGAPORE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - London copper steadied but is on track for a fourth straight week of decline as a struggling global economy and a deepening euro zone debt crisis kept investors' hands off riskier assets.
"Unless we have news that provides a level of optimism, copper prices should remain under pressure. At the moment, it's just curve ball after curve ball after curve ball," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services in Sydney.
Indonesia Tin Association tackles Timah on exports
PANGKAL PINANG/JAKARTA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Indonesia Tin Association (ITA) will ask PT Timah the world's largest integrated miner, to halt all shipments as it tries to plug leaks in its eight-week old ingot export stoppage, an association official said.
The ITA, an industry group of 28 smelters from the world's top refined tin exporting country, met on Wednesday on the main producing island region of Bangka to discuss their ingot shipping ban.
Japan Oct rolled copper output down 11.5 pct yr/yr
TOKYO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Japan's output of rolled copper product plunged 11.5 percent in October from a year earlier to 64,318 tonnes on a seasonally adjusted basis due to sluggish demand from the chip and electronics sectors, an industry body said on Friday.
That marked a fourth consecutive month of year-on-year declines and an 8 percent decrease from September, the Japan Copper and Brass Association said.
METALS-LME copper drops 0.7 pct, eyeing 4th weekly loss
SINGAPORE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - London copper edged lower on Friday and is on track for a fourth straight week of decline as a struggling global economy and a deepening euro zone debt crisis kept investors' hands off riskier assets.
"Unless we have news that provides a level of optimism, copper prices should remain under pressure. At the moment, it's just curve ball after curve ball after curve ball," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services in Sydney.
PRECIOUS-Gold ticks lower; heads for 2nd straight weekly drop
SINGAPORE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Gold edged down below $1,700 an ounce on Friday, heading for its second straight weekly fall, as the euro extended losses on growing fears the two-year-old debt crisis in Europe would drag on and eventually trigger a credit crunch.
"It's really draining the liquidity and it triggers, let's say, economic crisis, a stronger dollar overall. It will be tough. Technically, it doesn't look that great," said Dominic Schnider, an analyst at UBS Wealth Management.
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