20120404 1121 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares retreat as Fed minutes soften stimulus bias
TOKYO, April 4 (Reuters) - Asian shares eased on Wednesday after the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's March meeting suggested the bank was less likely to take further stimulus measures, leaving investors looking for more clues over global growth outlook.
"We expect market focus to stay on global growth, as this holds the key to dissipating solvency concerns in developed markets," they said.

COMMODITIES-Markets down as dollar rallies on Fed minutes; gold off 2 pct
NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - Gold tumbled on Tuesday and other commodities slipped too after the Federal Reserve released minutes of its March meeting which gave investors less hope that the central bank would soon embark on a new round of government bond buying, or quantitative easing.
"The Fed has distanced itself from QE3," James Steel, chief commodity analyst at HSBC, said, referring to the third round of quantitative easing widely anticipated in financial markets.

OIL-Oil slips on demand caution, Fed minutes
NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - Oil fell on Tuesday as caution over lackluster demand growth and fading expectations for more monetary stimulus from the U.S. central bank countered concerns about potential supply disruptions.
"Essentially the market is continuing the pattern we saw last month, when it couldn't find a clear direction," said James Zhang, energy analyst at Standard Bank. "Few people are willing to aggressively short this market given the geopolitical risk."

NATURAL GAS-US natural gas futures end up for 2nd day
NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures ended higher on Tuesday for a second day as cooler extended weather forecasts and more technical buying after last week's sell-off propped up prices despite concerns about record-high supplies.
"The rally so far this week can only be categorized as minor and corrective, not a change in the underlying structure of the market which remains in a long-term downtrend," Energy Management Institute's Dominick Chirichella said.

EURO COAL-Prices dip on mild weather, high stocks
LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - European physical coal prices dipped slightly on Tuesday as mild weather sapped demand for energy in Europe.
"The weather's nice and coal stocks are high, so there's very little reason to order physical coal cargoes at the moment," one coal trader said.

Japan insurers to cut Iran oil insurance coverage -Nikkei
TOKYO, April 4 (Reuters) - Major Japanese nonlife insurers are likely to slash their coverage for Iranian crude oil by more than 50 percent as EU sanctions are set to prohibit European insurers from providing reinsurance, the Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday.
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance , Sompo Japan Insurance  and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance  plan to curtail coverage for Iranian oil and petrochemical shipments by cancelling existing cargo insurance policies and signing new ones, the report said, without citing sources.

Saudi to maintain oil supply if U.S. draws stocks
DUBAI, April 3 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is likely to maintain high oil production in the event consumer countries release emergency stocks, but it will not seek to lure buyers for more oil by discounting its crude, industry sources said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday in Riyadh sought an assurance from Saudi King Abdullah that the kingdom would not neutralise a release of inventories by consuming countries by cutting its production.