20120907 1109 Global Markets & Commodities Related News.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia shares rise after ECB, focus on payrolls
TOKYO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Asian shares rose and the euro steadied on Friday after the European Central Bank outlined its bond-buying scheme to help calm the euro zone's debt crisis, while firm U.S. data fed speculation of a strong jobs report later in the day.
"The ECB's action has been priced in after earlier reports and contained nothing new, but there was no 'selling the fact', probably because currencies followed the rally in stocks. It appears markets are warming up to a risk-on mode," said  Hiroshi Maeba, head of FX trading Japan for UBS in Tokyo.

OIL-Oil settles higher on drop in U.S. inventory and ECB
NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled higher but well off the day's peaks on Thursday, supported by a drop in U.S. crude oil inventories, strong jobs data and the European Central Bank's announcement of a bond buying program.
"The drawdown in crude stocks was a one-time event due to Isaac and there was no damage done to the Gulf infrastructure so the inventory report was written off, and then I think the market digested the ECB bond issue and it doesn't seem to be as much of a game changer ...," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy.

White House consults experts as it mulls tapping oil reserve
WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Obama administration officials met with a handful of oil market experts on Thursday as the White House considers the merits of another release of emergency oil reserves - potentially one much larger than the last.
The meeting, originally scheduled for August but delayed by summer vacations, did not center entirely on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to non-government sources who attended the meeting.

U.S. crude stocks fall sharply following Hurricane Isaac-EIA
Sept 6 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell more sharply than forecasters had expected last week as Hurricane Isaac passed through the U.S. Gulf region and temporarily shut down production platforms, refineries and ports, government data showed on Thursday.
Domestic stocks of crude, excluding oil held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 7.43 million barrels to 357.1 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 31, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a smaller drop of 5.3 million barrels.

NATURAL GAS-U.S. natgas futures end lower despite light storage build
NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures ended lower on Thursday for the second straight day despite a smaller-than-expected weekly build to inventories, as weather forecasters predicted milder autumn weather for consuming regions.
"Today's natural gas inventory report was bullish on all counts for the short term and next week's report is also likely to be bullish as injections will underperform while the industry continues to recover from Isaac," said Energy Management Institute's Dominick Chirichella.

EURO COAL-Europe takes more S.African, prices dip again
LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Physical coal prices in Europe crept higher by 20-60 cents a tonne on Thursday.
"Prices rose slightly in early trade but by the afternoon, gas and power had weakened and coal lost some of the morning's gains," one European trader said.