Asian Stocks Drop as U.S. Home Prices Slip (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks (MXAP) fell for a second day amid slow trading, with the regional benchmark index headed for the worst year since 2008, after a report showed U.S. housing prices fell, damping the earnings outlook for Asia’s exporters. Canon Inc. (7751), the world’s biggest camera maker, slipped 1.2 percent. SK Telecom Co. paced declines among South Korean companies that go ex-dividend today. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) declined 12.8 percent after Industry Minister Yukio Edano said the utility should consider temporary government control. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3 percent to 113.32 as of 10:01 a.m. in Tokyo, with seven of the gauge’s 10 industry groups falling. The measure has declined about 18 percent this year, the most since 2008.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares fall in thin trade, oil slips after jump on Iran
TOKYO, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Asian shares eased on Wednesday in low volume with many market players away for year-end holidays, while oil slipped after surging the day
before on concerns about supply disruptions after Iran threatened to stop the flow of oil from the Gulf.
"More people wanting to bring their positions to neutral ahead of the new year's holidays than looking for bargains is keeping prices depressed in low volumes," said Tetsuro Ii, the president of Commons Asset Management.
COMMODITIES-Oil jumps on Iran threat; soy up on Argentine weather
NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Oil rallied on Tuesday on Iran's threat to close a Middle East crude shipping route in response to possible Western embargoes on Iranian oil, while soybean and grain prices surged on weather woes in Argentina.
"The geopolitical fear premium with the Iran comments and also the U.S. consumer sentiment rising to an eight-month high make it hard to be short oil during this holiday week," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
POLL-U.S. crude stocks seen down on seasonal draws
Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil inventories are expected to have fallen for a seventh straight week as refiners delayed imports to draw down stockpiles for year-end tax considerations, a Reuters poll ahead of weekly supply data showed on Tuesday.
Averaging the views of six analysts, crude stockpiles were expected to be down 1.6 million barrels in the week to Dec. 23, the preliminary survey showed.
Oil rises on Iran warning on Strait of Hormuz
NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Oil rose for a sixth straight session on Tuesday as Iran's threat to stop oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz added to concerns about potential threats to supplies from the region.
"The geopolitical fear premium with the Iran comments and also the U.S. consumer sentiment rising to an eight-month high make it hard to be short oil during this holiday week," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
NYMEX-Natgas futures end mostly lower in seesaw session
NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures mostly ended lower on Tuesday in a seesaw session, as the milder change in noon computer weather models and concerns about record-high supplies outweighed early short covering ahead of the January contract expiration on Wednesday.
"There's a lot of supply out there. Shale gas is a big part of that, and that's not going to change anytime soon," a Houston trader said, adding he did not expect recent gas rig declines to slow record high gas production until later next year, too late to boost prices this winter.
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