Thursday, May 24, 2012

20120524 1634 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

Asian shares steadied but remained vulnerable amid signs that European leaders were unable to deliver meaningful measures to resolve the region's deepening debt crisis, heightening the risk of Greece leaving the currency bloc.

U.S. stocks staged a late-day reversal rallying into the close in another volatile session as a sharp rise in materials shares boosted the S&P 500 and gains in Apple  helped lift the Nasdaq.

The euro hovered just above its 22-month low against the dollar and remained vulnerable to further declines as the prospect of a Greek exit from the euro zone kept investors on tenterhooks.

FOREX-Euro shaky on Greece exit fear, near 22-month low
SINGAPORE/SYDNEY, May 24 (Reuters) - The euro hovered just above its 22-month low against the dollar on Thursday and emained vulnerable to further declines as the prospect of a Greek exit from the euro zone kept investors on tenterhooks.
"It's still hard to see what the endgame will be like," a trader at a Japanese bank in Tokyo said.

U.S. wheat and soybean futures rose recovering some losses after two sessions of declines on the back of continued uncertainty surrounding Greece's possible exit from the euro zone.

CME set to extend hours for pit grain trading - traders
Exchange operator CME Group  plans to apply for federal approval on Thursday to extend its open-outcry grain trading session, ensuring its raucous Chicago pits will be in full swing before the next major U.S. agricultural report in June, grain traders said after a private meeting with CME officials.

Black Sea wheat crop hit; damage worse without rain
A spring drought in wheat growing regions on the Black Sea has already reduced the outlook for this year's harvest but forecast rains could halt the damage in the coming days and weeks, a crucial period for crop development.

China may hold off on big corn imports until Sept-traders
Feed mills in China, the world's No.2 corn consumer, may hold off on importing large volumes of U.S. corn until September when the Chinese harvest becomes clear, as feed demand may slow and domestic corn output is seen at a record high this year, traders said on Wednesday.

Brent crude climbed above $106 per barrel as traders covered short positions after prices hit their lowest in more than five months the session before on euro zone worries and signs of progress in talks with Iran on its nuclear programme.

About 300,000 bpd Iranian oil lost to market - IEA
PARIS, May 23 (Reuters) - The oil market has lost about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude since the announcement of sanctions and an embargo against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear programme, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

China's top aluminium province idles plants as demand slows
China's top aluminium-producing province has idled about 700,000 tonnes of capacity in recent months, a senior industry official said, further evidence that slower growth in the world's No. 2 economy is denting the country's appetite for commodities.

China's top aluminium province idles plants as demand slows
HONG KONG, May 24 (Reuters) - China's top aluminium-producing province has idled about 700,000 tonnes of capacity in recent months, a senior industry official said, further evidence that slower growth in the world's No. 2 economy is denting the country's appetite for commodities.
The total reduction could rise to 1.2 million tonnes by the end of the year, Henan Nonferrous Metals Industry Association deputy chairman Liu Libin said, more than a quarter of the province's total capacity.

China iron ore market "steady as it goes" - Rio
SYDNEY, May 24 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto  , the world's No.2 producer of iron ore, sees no signs of a slowdown in demand from top consumer China and still plans to almost double its output of the steel-making ingredient by 2016.
Slowing growth in China has rattled commodity markets in recent weeks, prompting sharp falls in some raw materials prices on fears demand will slump.

China nerves delay $1.3 bln Australian iron ore bid
MELBOURNE/SYDNEY, May 24 (Reuters) - China's Hanlong Mining has put back by six months a target date to seal a A$1.34 billion ($1.3 billion) takeover of Australian iron ore group Sundance Resources , as Chinese investment in Australian resource
projects cools this year.
The firms said they had agreed to delay the takeover until November after Hanlong struggled to line up funding from China.

COLUMN-Steel output up but price pressures build
(Andy Home is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)
LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) - Global steel production edged up to a new all-time high of 1.562 billion tonnes annualised in April, according to the latest estimate from the World Steel Association (WSA).
But momentum is fading.

U.S. copper user, trader attack JP Morgan ETF plan
NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) - A major U.S. copper consumer and a trader have lodged the first public opposition to JPMorgan Chase & Co's  plan to launch a exchange-traded fund (EFT) physically backed by copper, comparing its impact to the Sumitomo scandal in the 1990s.
Lawyers representing Southwire, one of the largest copper users in the United States, and Red Kite, a major metals hedge fund and physical trader, argued in a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month that such a fund would inflate prices and squeeze supply by removing as much as a third of the London Metal Exchange's copper stocks.

London copper rose 0.8 percent as the market took a breather after sinking to a 4-1/2 month low in the previous session on risk aversion triggered by worries over Greece's possible exit from the euro zone.

Gold hovered near $1,560 an ounce remaining on shaky ground as worries about Greece and the euro zone continued to dominate market sentiment after a European Union summit yielded few practical steps to manage the debt crisis.

METALS-Copper rises from 4-1/2 month low, EU crisis weighs
SINGAPORE, May 24 (Reuters) - London copper rose 0.8 percent on Thursday as the market took a breather after sinking to a 4-1/2 month low in the previous session on risk aversion triggered by worries over Greece's possible exit from the euro zone.
"Prices of copper have come off quite heavily in recent weeks so there might be some sense that maybe it was an overreaction," said Alexandra Knight, an economist with National Australia Bank. "From my perspective Greece will ultimately stay in the euro zone as there will be a lot of resistance to letting it exit."

PRECIOUS-Gold hovers near $1,560/oz; Greece woes feed caution
SINGAPORE, May 24 (Reuters) - Gold hovered near $1,560 an ounce on Thursday, remaining on shaky ground as worries about Greece and the euro zone continued to dominate market sentiment after a European Union summit yielded few practical steps to manage the debt crisis.
"Clients are not too interested in entering the market right now," said a Singapore-based dealer. "They are worried that if Greece eventually pulls out of the euro zone, the euro will fall and drag gold down with it."

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