GLOBAL MARKETS-Fed's reassurance, earnings optimism lift shares
TOKYO, April 26 (Reuters) - Asian shares gained on Thursday, retaining positive momentum as the Federal Reserve reassured markets that it will keep its very accommodative stance to support growth, and optimism grew over strong corporate earnings after Apple Inc's robust results.
"The totality of all new Fed communications ... have reinforced the idea that the policy bias is currently neutral and that the outlook remains highly dependent on incoming data," said Societe Generale in a note.
COMMODITIES-Oil up despite high supply; cattle ignore mad cow
NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - Oil markets rose on Wednesday despite an increase in U.S. crude supplies and cattle prices recovered from a sell-off sparked by mad cow disease, but early strength in the dollar restrained commodities as a whole.
"Oil got support from equities, which are on a rally mode," said Hamza Khan, analyst at the SchorkGroup in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
Exports gobble up U.S. Gulf diesel stocks
--Robert Campbell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own--
NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - Stocks of distillate fuel on the U.S. Gulf Coast are tight and getting tighter as strong demand from overseas markets drains inventories even as overall production has risen.
For the first 15 weeks of the year, U.S. Gulf Coast distillate fuel stocks are down 5.36 million barrels, at an average pace of 357,000 barrels a week.
Japan's Iran crude imports fall 6.3 pct yr/yr in March
TOKYO, April 26 (Reuters) - Japan's customs-cleared crude imports from Iran fell 6.3 percent in March from a year earlier to 1,751,737 kilolitres (355,400 barrels per day), Ministry of Finance data showed on Thursday.
March imports from Iran rose 41.9 percent from February's 1,234,082 kl (267,700 bpd).
Libya's biggest oil refinery faces restart delay
LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - Libya's largest refinery, 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) Ras Lanuf, is unlikely to restart for another month or more until after a meeting between board members and shareholders, an official at the refinery operator Libyan Emirati Refining Co (Lerco) told Reuters.
Lerco is a joint-venture between Libya's state oil company National Oil Corporation (NOC) and UAE-based Al Ghurair group.
Oil gains with Wall St, shrugs off US stock build
NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose in choppy trading o n W ednesday, with Brent closing at its highest in eight days, as a rally in equity markets fueled partly by Federal Reserve comments outweighed a fifth straight weekly increase in U.S. crude stockpiles.
"Oil got support from equities, which are on a rally mode and as support that developed after the day's lows at around $103 (for U.S. crude) was not violated," said Hamza Khan, analyst at the Schork Group in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
NATURAL GAS - US natgas futures spike 5 pct on demand, supply cut talk
NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures shot up sharply on Wednesday as stronger demand and talk of supply cuts from Canada's largest gas producer stirred buying despite milder extended weather forecasts and concerns about record-high supplies.
"There is current weakness in market fundamentals due to an oversupply of natural gas and it is clear that a continued reduction of drilling activity will be required to restore market balance," the company said in a statement.
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