GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares inch up, Spain debt downgrade caps
TOKYO, April 27 (Reuters) - Asian shares inched up on Friday, tracking U.S. stocks which jumped overnight on strong U.S. housing data and earnings, but concerns over the health of European banks weighed on investor risk appetite after Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's rating.
"The price action reflects strong market nervousness over the European problem, and that investors have yet to take on risk," said Junya Tanase, chief foreign exchange strategist at JPMorgan Bank in Tokyo.
COMMODITIES-US stimulus speculation lifts copper, most markets
NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - Commodities ended broadly higher on Thursday, with copper one of the biggest gainers, after high claims for jobless benefits in the United States fed expectations that the Federal Reserve may approve another U.S. economic stimulus.
"Yesterday's Fed proclamation that they are prepared to take additional easing steps even in the face of slightly positive growth" is weakening the dollar, said Alexander Chepurko, foreign exchange analyst at Forex Club in New York.
Oil rises on U.S. housing data, Fed optimism
NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures rose on T hursday as a solid pickup in U.S. home sales added to economic optimism following the U.S. Federal Reserve's vow a day earlier that it would take further stimulus action if needed to keep the recovery going.
"This is a positive note as an improvement in economic data adds support to risk assets," said Sean McGillivray, vice president and broker at Great Pacific Wealth Management in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Refining losses hit China's PetroChina, Sinopec
HONG KONG, April 26 (Reuters) - Hefty refining losses continued to weigh on profits at Chinese state oil giants PetroChina and Sinopec Corp in the first three months of the year, with the latter posting a worse than expected 35 percent drop in earnings.
But the worst may be over because the Chinese government raised gasoline and diesel prices twice in the first quarter, and crude prices may have peaked for this year, some analysts say.
Argentina says YPF takeover needed to fuel economy
BUENOS AIRES, April 26 (Reuters) - Argentina must seize control of top energy company YPF from Spain's Repsol to boost production of the oil and natural gas needed to fuel economic growth, Economy Minister Hernan Lorenzino said on Thursday.
President Cristina Fernandez unveiled plans to expropriate a 51 percent stake in YPF last week, sparking a swift reprisal by Spain on biodiesel imports and threats of trade retaliation by the European Union.
Production growth lifts Shell; Exxon falls short
April 26 (Reuters) - First-quarter earnings from the top two publicly traded oil companies showed clearly both the challenges and potential gains of growing output even a little, with Exxon Mobil Corp's production declining and Royal Dutch Shell Plc easily beating estimates.
Exxon's oil and natural gas production slumped 5 percent, leading to a lower net profit and pushing its shares down 1.4 percent on Thursday -- an especially big move for a $400 billion company that just increased its dividend the previous day by a better-than-expected 21 percent.
NATURAL GAS - US natgas futures reverse, end lower for May expiry
NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) - Front-month U.S. natural gas futures ended lower o n T hursday, as an early rally on a slightly supportive inventory report faded ahead of the May contract expiration due to moderate weather forecasts and record-high supplies.
"The (EIA) report on first glance was in line, but with the revision, we injected less that we thought. Even with that, we still have a huge surplus and the market remains well supplied," said Eric Bickel, analyst at Summit Energy in Kentucky.
Euro Coal-Ticks up due to dollar weakness
LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - European prompt physical coal prices rose by around 50 cents on Thursday, boosted by higher oil prices and the dollar's earlier weakness but few trades were reported.
"The dark spreads (margin from generating using coal as a fuel) are healthy but nobody needs to buy any more coal and the U.S. cargoes continue to flow, there's no sign of that slowing yet," one trader said.
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