20120710 1616 Global Market & Commodities Related News.

Market Briefs
• Swiss Jun Unemployment Rate adj 2.9% vs prev 2.9% (rvsd).
• EZ Jul Sentix index -29.6 vs prev -28.9. -26.7 exp
• 54% of Germans think almost futile to fight to save euro if additional billions are required (TNS poll for Spiegel Online)
• 49% of Germans want Greece to leave euro - Emnid Institute poll (Focus magazine/Ekathimerini)
• Merkel Wrestles with Court over Europe's Future (Spiegel Online)
• Swiss cenbank must defend franc cap at all costs (Zeitung Newspaper)
• BAE bids to land £7bn US jet project (Sunday Telegraph)
• Gulf rivals vie for Marrriotts (Sunday Times)
• Chinese Wen calling for more aggressive efforts with economic policies
• Chinese Wen - economy stable but facing downward pressure, vows to keep property curbs (Xinhua)

GLOBAL MARKETS: Asian shares fell after Chinese import growth slowed sharply in June, underscoring weakness in domestic demand in the world's second-largest economy and adding to concerns about deteriorating global economic conditions. European shares were expected to open little changed after four straight sessions in the red, as a positive start to the U.S. earnings season was largely offset by new signs of an economic slowdown in China and concerns about the effectiveness of Europe's crisis-fighting measures. U.S. stocks slipped in light trading on Monday, weighed down by weak economic data from Asia and signs of economic trouble in Europe, underscored by higher Spanish and Italian bond yields. The Dow ended down 0.28 percent. The S&P’s 500 Index was down 0.16 percent. Nasdaq closed down 0.19 percent.

FOREX: The euro fell and hovered near a two-year low after a meeting of euro zone finance ministers offered no positive surprises, while the Australian dollar sagged after  disappointing Chinese import data. The euro dipped 0.2 percent from late U.S. trade to $1.2294, edging back in the direction of a two-year low of $1.2225 hit the previous day on trading platform EBS.

FOREX-Euro falls, euro zone meeting offers little relief
SINGAPORE, July 10 (Reuters) - The euro fell and hovered near a two-year low on Tuesday after a meeting of euro zone finance ministers offered no positive surprises, while the Australian dollar sagged after  disappointing Chinese import data.    
Euro zone ministers agreed to grant Spain an extra year -- until 2014 -- to reach its deficit reduction targets in exchange for further budget savings and set the parameters of an aid package for Madrid's ailing banks.

China trade surplus jumps as import growth falters
China's June trade data on Tuesday stoked anxiety about the strength of domestic demand in the world's second biggest economy as imports rose at only half the pace expected, signalling a need for Beijing to do more to bolster growth.

COLUMN-China June commodity import weakness is payback
--Clyde Russell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.--
LAUNCESTON, Australia, July 10 (Reuters) - If you take China's June commodity imports in isolation, they look very bad indeed with sharp declines in crude oil, iron ore and copper.
But one month of poor numbers doesn't mean the world's largest commodity consumer is in the midst of an economic hard landing, nor does it necessarily signal the start of sustained weakness.

US SEC finalizes derivative definition rules
U.S. securities regulators on Monday finalized rules that define what kinds of derivatives products will be regulated under the new regime created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

Hedge funds plow most into commods in 2 yrs as Q3 dawns
Hedge funds and other big commodity investors pumped a notional $13 billion into U.S. energy, grains and metals markets in the week to July 3, the biggest influx in at least two years, after a debt deal in Europe sparked a buying frenzy across the sector.

GRAINS: Chicago corn slid 1.2 percent, giving up some of last session's strong gains as investors squared positions ahead of a key U.S. supply-demand report, though deteriorating crop conditions continued to offer support. CBOT new-crop December corn had lost 1.2 percent to $7.21-1/4 a bushel, after hitting a contract high of $7.33 a bushel the day before. The most-active November soy fell 0.6 percent to $15.38-1/2 a bushel, while the spot contract slid 0.8 percent after climbing to a record top of $16.79-1/2 a bushel in the last session.

Corn, soy ratings plunge due to dryness, heat -USDA
U.S. corn ratings last week notched their biggest decline in nearly nine years as plants withered in parched Midwest soils during a critical phase of development, severely reducing harvest expectations and keeping ratings near a 25-year low.

Norway intervenes to avert oil industry closure
Norway's government ordered on Monday a last-minute settlement in a dispute between striking oil workers and employers in a move to alleviate market fears over a full closure of its oil industry and a steep cut in Europe's supplies.

OIL: Brent crude below $99 a barrel over concerns about demand growth after Chinese crude imports weakened in June, while worries of supply disruptions eased after a halt in the labour strike at Norway's oil industry. Brent was down $1.98 to $98.34 and U.S. crude fell $1.29 at $84.70 a barrel.

China iron ore imports fall 8.7 pct in June from May
SHANGHAI, July 10 (Reuters) - China's iron ore imports fell 8.7 percent in June from the previous month, as the world's largest buyer cut shipments on tepid demand, while traders expect a further decline in bookings in July, given little recovery in steel prices.
Iron ore imports dropped to 58.31 million tonnes in June from 63.84 million the previous month, preliminary data from customs showed on Tuesday.

India may protect some stainless steel against China imports
GENEVA, July 9 (Reuters) - India is investigating a flood of Chinese imports of some types of stainless steel and may restrict the trade if it finds its own steelmakers have suffered as a result, according to a document published by the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday.
The probe into imports of the "300 series" of hot-rolled flat products was prompted by a complaint from Indian steel company Jindal Stainless Ltd , after China's share of India's import market for the products leapt from 10 percent to 50 percent over the past three years.

Indonesia's June refined tin exports dip 11 pct y/y- govt
JAKARTA, July 10 (Reuters) - Refined tin shipments from Indonesia, the world's top exporter, fell 11 percent in June to 9,646.7 tonnes from 10,875.3 t o nnes a year earlier, a trade ministry official said on Tuesday.  
Indonesian refined tin exports for June were 23 percent higher c ompared to May's figure of 7,866.2 tonnes.

Alcoa sees strong aluminum demand
NEW YORK, July 9 (Reuters) - Alcoa Inc's  quarterly revenue and profit beat Wall Street's expectations even though prices for its aluminum are at nearly two-year lows, and it forecast growing demand in the aerospace and auto sectors.
Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld said low metal prices were a result of the global economic malaise rather than any fault with market fundamentals.

BASE METALS: London copper edged down, weighed down by a 17.5 percent monthly fall in China's June copper imports, global economic worries and caution ahead of the release of China's GDP figures this week. Three-month copper on the LME had edged down 0.2 percent to $7,547.50 per tonne, after rising 0.4 percent on Monday. The most-active October copper contract on the SFE edged up 0.3 percent to 55,360 yuan per tonne, catching up with previous gains in London, after losing 1 percent on Monday.

China copper imports fall 17.5 percent on month in June
HONG KONG, July 10 (Reuters) - China's copper arrivals fell 17.5 percent in June from a month earlier, preliminary customs data showed on Tuesday, resuming a slowdown for much of this year due to falling demand for goods in the world's second-biggest economy.
The monthly fall was broadly in line with the expectations of traders and analysts as copper demand in the world's top consumer of the metal has mostly stayed weak this year, even though imports spiked in May.

PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices edged down, pressured by a higher dollar as investors nervous about global economic growth piled into the greenback for safety. Spot gold dipped $1.46 to $1,585.19 an ounce. U.S. Gold futures contract for August delivery edged down 0.2 percent to $1,586.10.

Managed money ups gold net longs, cuts copper shorts
July 9 (Reuters) - Hedge funds and money managers boosted their bullish bets in U.S. gold futures and options by 30 percent in the week up to July 3 after a European deal to shore up banks and cut borrowing costs increased bullion's investment appeal.
Speculators also sharply cut their copper net shorts after prices rallied over 5 percent during the period covered, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)'s Commitments of Traders showed.

LME shareholders to vote on HKEx takeover July 25
LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - London Metal Exchange (LME) shareholders will vote on July 25 on a 1.4 billion pound ($2.2 billion) takeover offer by the Hong Kong stock exchange , which could deliver a payout of 7.4 million pounds for the LME's chief executive.
The LME, the world's largest marketplace for metals including copper and aluminium, said in a statement on Monday it had set the date for the vote and sent documents to its shareholders on the takeover plan, including details of potential payouts for its executives.

METALS-LME copper edges lower after China trade data
SHANGHAI, July 10 (Reuters) - London copper edged down on Tuesday, weighed down by a 17.5 percent monthly fall in China's June copper imports, global economic worries and caution ahead of the release of China's GDP figures this week.
But some saw a silver lining in recent gloomy data and price falls, hoping these will lead to more stimulus moves by central banks, while others bet that copper prices have bottomed out.

PRECIOUS-Gold dips as gloomy growth outlook boosts dollar
SINGAPORE, July 10 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged down on Tuesday, pressured by a higher dollar as investors nervous about global economic growth piled into the greenback for safety.
The dollar index hovered near a one-month high hit earlier this week, while the euro edged lower towards a two-year low against the greenback, after China released weaker-than-expected imports data that suggested decreasing domestic demand in the world's second-largest economy.