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US STOCKS-Wall St jumps on earnings optimism, Syria worries ebb - Reuters News

12-Apr-2018 10:13:22 PM

• BlackRock beats Q1 profit estimates, shares up 2.6 pct

• "Never said when attack on Syria would take place" - Trump

• Bed Bath & Beyond sinks after weak 2018 profit forecast 

• Indexes up: Dow 1.18 pct, S&P 0.87 pct, Nasdaq 0.91 pct 

Updates to open

By Sruthi Shankar

April 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks bounced higher on Thursday as expectations that lower U.S. taxes would fuel corporate earnings added to easing of nerves over U.S. military conflict with Russia in Syria. 

Growth stocks including technology, financial and industrial stocks led gains on the main U.S. indexes. 

Boeing rose 1.53 percent and was the biggest boost to the Dow, while Microsoft and JPMorgan rose 1.5 percent each, lifting the S&P 500.

The gains came as first-quarter earnings season kicked off, with the world's largest asset manager BlackRock Inc reporting quarterly profit above Wall Street estimates. Its shares were up 2.6 percent.

Analysts expect quarterly profit for S&P 500 companies to rise 18.5 percent from a year ago, the biggest gain in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. 

"We're seeing some early optimism ahead of earnings and there's no bad news for the moment, be it back and forth between Russia and the U.S. or trade war situation," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville.

"This is first full quarter with new taxes... that is a variable that could work very positively in the favor of investors."

At 9:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.18 percent at 24,474.26. The S&P 500 gained 0.87 percent to 2,665.14 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.91 percent to 7,133.66.

U.S. President Donald Trump toned down his threats of a swift military strike on Syria, tweeting "Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!"

His comments came a day after he tweeted that missiles "will be coming", threatening a military confrontation with Russia in Syria.

Economic data on Thursday also helped the positive sentiment. New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength.

The data pushed yields on the U.S. 10-year Treasury notes to a four-day high at 2.82 percent. 

Delta Air Lines jumped more than 2 percent after the U.S. carrier reported a rise in quarterly revenue, boosted by higher average fares and passenger traffic.

Other airline stocks American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Alaska Air Group and United Continental Holdings rose between 0.9 percent and 2 percent, lifting the Dow Jones Airlines index by 1.5 percent.

Facebook shares fell 1 percent, after a brief respite for the stock in the wake of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's comments at the two-day congressional hearing. 

Bed Bath & Beyond shares dived more than 17 percent after the company's full-year profit forecast missed estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE for a 1.77-to-1 ratio and on the Nasdaq for a 2.25-to-1 ratio.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

UPDATE 6-Oil hovers near highest since 2014 as OPEC sees tighter market - Reuters News

12-Apr-2018 09:28:55 PM

• OPEC sees oil markets tightening even as U.S. produces more

• OPEC's SecGen predicts market balance by Q2-Q3 

• OPEC/Russia supply cuts set to be extended into 2019

Updates with OPEC report

By Libby George and Dmitry Zhdannikov

LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged off highs last reached in late 2014 due to rising U.S. stocks but remained well supported by mounting geopolitical tension in the Middle East, shrinking global oil inventories and expectations of a supply cut extension by OPEC.

Brent crude futures were at $71.84 a barrel at 1315 GMT on Thursday, down 22 cents from their last close. U.S. WTI crude futures were down 12 cents at $66.70.

Both Brent and WTI on Wednesday hit their highest since late 2014 at $73.09 and $67.45 a barrel respectively after Saudi Arabia said it intercepted missiles over Riyadh and U.S. President Donald Trump warned Russia of imminent military action in Syria.

On Thursday, OPEC said the global oil stocks surplus was close to evaporating due to healthy energy demand and its own supply cuts.

U.S. shale oil output has been booming over the past year since OPEC reduced its own production in tandem with Russia to prop up global oil prices.

But as oil production collapsed in OPEC member Venezuela and is still facing hiccups in countries such as Libya and Angola, the oil exporters' group is still producing below its targets, meaning the world needs to use stocks to meet rising demand.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly report oil stocks in the developed world fell by 17.4 million barrels in February to 2.854 billion barrels, around 43 million barrels above the latest five-year average.

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo told Reuters in New Delhi the global oil glut has effectively shrunk by nine-tenths since the start of 2017.

"We have seen an accelerated shrinkage of stocks in storage from unparalleled highs of about 400 million barrels to about 43 million above the five-year average," Barkindo said.

OPEC, Russia and several other non-OPEC producers began to cut supply in January 2017. The pact runs until the end of the year and OPEC meets in Vienna in June to decide on its next course of action.

"There is growing confidence that the declaration of cooperation will be extended beyond 2018," Barkindo told Reuters. "Russia will continue to play a leading role."

Despite this, supplies remain ample and analysts said this would weigh on prices eventually.

Barclays said that geopolitical events could keep Brent prices elevated above $70 in April and May, but a downward correction was possible in the second half of the year.

U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 3.3 million barrels to 428.64 million barrels, while U.S. crude production last week hit a record 10.53 million barrels per day (bpd).

(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore

Editing by David Goodman and David Evans)

PRECIOUS-Gold falls from 11-week high on stronger dollar, profit-taking - Reuters News

12-Apr-2018 10:12:03 PM

• Gold down after four sessions of gains

• Syria crisis and U.S.-China trade row underpin gold

• Silver retreats from highest in nearly two months

 (Updates prices, adds GRAPHIC)

By Zandi Shabalala

LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - Gold tumbled from an 11-week high on Thursday as the dollar gained and investors booked profits, but rising tensions over military escalation in Syria prevented further losses.

Snapping a four-day winning streak, spot gold fell 1 percent to $1,338.71 an ounce by 1400 GMT while U.S. gold futures dropped 1.2 percent to $1,343.80.

The dollar index gained 0.4 percent, dragging down commodities priced in the U.S. currency.

"It's looking like profit-taking," said ING commodities strategist Oliver Nugent, adding that support from geopolitical tensions was not enough to bring gold back above $1,350.

Underpinning bullion was news that British ministers planned to gather on Thursday to discuss whether to join the United States and France in possible military action in Syria that could bring direct confrontation between Western and Russian forces.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Russia of imminent military action in Syria over a suspected gas attack, declaring that missiles "will be coming" and lambasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Gold is often used as a store of value during times of financial or political uncertainty, generally gaining along with assets such as the Japanese yen and U.S. Treasuries.

"Expectations are that $1,350 will act as an initial pivot point for near-term pricing," said MKS SA precious metals trader Sam Laughlin.

"However, more importantly, key downside support around $1,335 to $1,340 should provide a base for a further test through the January high of $1,366."

Also supporting gold were lingering worries about a trade war between China and the United States.

The U.S. economy was displaying signs of strength, minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting showed on Wednesday, increasing the likelihood of higher interest rates.

A tightening in U.S. monetary policy dents the investment appeal of gold because the metal pays no interest.

Among other precious metals, silver fell 0.8 percent to $16.50 an ounce after hitting its highest in nearly two months at $16.87 in the previous session.

Platinum added 0.5 percent to $930.80 and palladium fell 1.4 percent to $951.10.

Palladium, however, has surged by more than 6 percent this week on concerns that supply from top producer Russia could be hurt by sanctions imposed by the United States.

U.S. sanctions were likely an initial trigger for a price rally, UBS said in a note, but the expected recovery in palladium was still supported by strong fundamentals.

(Additional reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru Editing by David Goodman) 

CBOT Trends-Wheat down 9-11 cents, corn down 1-2, soybeans up 1-2 - Reuters News

12-Apr-2018 09:12:40 PM

CHICAGO, April 12 (Reuters) - Following are U.S. trade expectations for the resumption of the grain and soy complex trading at the Chicago Board of Trade at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT) on Thursday.

WHEAT - Down 9 to 11 cents per bushel

• Wheat lower on a mix of technical selling and fundamental pressure from plentiful world supplies, coupled with models showing increased chances of rain late next week in the drought-hit southern Plains winter wheat belt. Disappointing weekly U.S. export sales data adds to bearish sentiment.

• MGEX spring wheat futures underpinned by fears of wintry weather delaying planting in the northern Plains.

• The USDA reported export sales of U.S. wheat in the week to April 5 at 188,700 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), below trade expectations.

• CBOT May soft red winter wheat last traded down 10-1/2 cents at $4.76-3/4 per bushel. K.C. May hard red winter wheat was last down 13-3/4 cents at $5.03 and MGEX May spring wheat  was last down 1-1/2 cents at $6.27-1/2.

CORN - Down 1 to 2 cents per bushel

• Corn futures headed lower for a third straight session on ample supplies and spillover weakness from wheat. Market underpinned by fears of a slow start to planting in the U.S. Midwest.

• The USDA reported export sales of U.S. corn in the week to April 5 at 896,000 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), below a range of trade expectations.

• A USDA attache report released Wednesday estimated Brazil's 2017/18 all-corn crop at 89 million tonnes, below the USDA's latest official figure of 92 million.

• CBOT May corn last traded down 1-1/4 cents at $3.85-3/4 a bushel.

SOYBEANS - Up 1 to 2 cents per bushel

• Soybeans heading higher on increased export demand for U.S. supplies and declining Argentine production estimates. The Rosario grains exchange on Wednesday cut its estimate of the country's soy crop to 37 million tonnes, from 40 million previously.

• The USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the week to April 5 at 2,464,500 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), topping a range of trade expectations.

• The USDA reported weekly U.S. soymeal export sales at 317,400 tonnes, in line with expectations, and soyoil sales at 22,000 tonnes, at the low end of expectations. 

• Brazil's soybean sales slowed this week as premiums at local ports retreated after reaching record levels amid the escalation of a trade conflict between China and the United States, analysts said.

• CBOT May soybeans last traded up 2-1/4 cents at $10.50 per bushel.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen)

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