Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Breaking News-RTRS - China turning to U.S. for soyoil imports-Oil World

HAMBURG, Jan 18 (Reuters) - China has increasingly imported U.S. soyoil in past weeks, turning its back on rival Argentine supplies for unclear reasons, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday.
China, the world's largest soyoil importer, has not made major purchases from South America in the past few weeks, Oil World said. Oil World also believes Brazilian supplies are practically sold out for nearby shipment.

Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday, overcoming weak Citigroup results and concerns circling Apple after news of Chief Executive Steve Jobs' medical leave.

Investors focused instead on increased price targets for Google , which reports later this week, and Dow component Caterpillar , whose results are due next week.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 50.55 points, or 0.43 percent, to end at 11,837.93. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> added 1.78 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,295.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 10.55 points, or 0.38 percent, at 2,765.85.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower on Tuesday, pressured by the restart of the Trans Alaska Pipeline and as the International Energy Agency said some members of OPEC may have quietly raised production in response to prices nearing $100 a barrel.

In a monthly report, the IEA raised its global demand growth forecast for this year and the dollar weakened against the euro, both helping limit the day's losses for crude oil.

Trading volume was well below that of Friday's, when prices rose, as U.S. markets reopened after Monday's Martin Luther King holiday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February crude settled down 16 cents, or 0.17 percent, at $91.38 a barrel, trading from $90.55 to $91.90.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex close on Tuesday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - March down 9-1/4 cents at $14.13-1/4 per bushel. November up 2-3/4 at $13.26. Rainfall over the weekend in Argentina weighed on nearby months as did news China canceled a couple cargoes of soy it had purchased from the U.S. while deferred months up on unwinding of bull spreads.

CBOT-SOYOIL - March up 0.28 cent at 57.55 cents per lb. Egypt's FIHC buys 20,000 tonnes soyoil for arrival in second half of Feb - trader

FCPO-JAKARTA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil bounced from one-month lows hit earlier on Tuesday, as persistent worries that demand will outstrip supplies, buoyed prices.

The benchmark April 2011 crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended up 0.6 percent at 3,670 Malaysian ringgit ($1,200) a tonne, after going as low as 3,610 ringgit a tonne earlier. Overall, traded volume stood at 11,293lots of 25 tonnes each, compared with a total of 10,525 lots on Monday.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Major Southeast Asian stock markets posted limited gains on Tuesday, with risk appetite weak across the region, but investors picked up stocks in companies expected to report good results, including Thailand's banks.

Investors turned cautious as euro zone finance ministers seemed to be in no rush to beef up their rescue fund, and some wanted to see the reaction in U.S. stocks to news Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs was taking medical leave.

Stocks in Singapore <.FTSTI> ended up 0.34 percent, taking their lead from Chinese stocks <.SSEC>, which bounced off the day's low as strong bank earnings helped offset downward pressure from signs of a further clampdown on lending.

Singapore's volume remained weak at 0.9 times its 30-day average, similar to most in the region.

In Singapore, gains in the offshore and marine sector due to the winning of contracts by rig-builder Sembcorp Marine lent support to the broad market. Sembcorp rose 2.7 percent.

Singapore's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> ended at 3,249.58 on Tuesday. Technical signals pointed to a fall in Singapore stocks in the near term, with support at 3,220. A break of this would put the next target at 3,182.