NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - World stocks fell and gold prices dropped 2 percent o n Tuesday as minutes from the latest U.S. central bank meeting showed policymakers may be less willing to launch further economic stimulus.
The dollar rose 1 percent against the yen, while safe-haven bonds slid. Federal Reserve policymakers, in their March meeting minutes, noted recent signs of slightly stronger growth but remained cautious about a broad pick-up in U.S. economic activity.
Still, the minutes suggested the appetite for another dose of stimulus via quantitative easing, so-called QE3, has eased.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 64.94 points, or 0.49 percent, to end at 13,199.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 5.66 points, or 0.40 percent, at 1,413.38, retreating from a four-year high.
NYMEX- NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures fell on Tuesday as worries about lackluster demand and fading prospects for more monetary stimulus from the U.S. central bank countered concerns about potential supply disruptions.
Federal Reserve policymakers appear less inclined to implement any more monetary stimulus as the U.S. economy gradually improves, according to minutes for the central bank's March meeting.
Oil prices also felt pressure from news that, according to industry sources, Saudi Arabia is likely to maintain high oil production in the event consumer countries release strategic oil reserves.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May crudefell $1.22, or 1.6 percent, to settle at $104.01 a barrel, having traded from $103.59 to $105.18.
CBOT SOYBEANS- Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade fell, on a
profit-taking setback after the spot contractearlier hit a seven-month high, traders said.
CBOT soybeans had increased 4.8 percent in the previous two sessions.
Soymeal followed soybeans lower on profit-taking and some reports of a softening cash soymeal basis in the U.S. Midwest following a pickup in farmer soybean sales in recent days.
Informa Economics CEO Bruce Scherr said the firm lowered its forecast of U.S. 2012 soybean seedings to 74.2 million acres, from 75.1 million previously. But the figure was above USDA's current 2012 forecast of 73.9 million. [ID:nL2E8F386T]
FCPO- SINGAPORE, April 3 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures touched their highest in more than a year on Tuesday, riding on the back of a smaller soybean crop and recovering palm oil exports, but ended the day almost flat, as traders scrambled to lock in profit.
Prices touched a high of 3,566 ringgit, a level unseen since March 9 last year, driving traders to book profit, and erasing gains after the midday break.
"Today the market volume's a bit light, at around 20,000 lots," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "There's a bit of profit-taking going on after palm oil broke a new high."
Benchmark June palm oil futureson the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange eased 1 ringgit to close at 3,532 ringgit ($1,160) per tonne.
Traded volumes stood at around 20,406 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly lower than the usual 25,000 lots.
REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, April 3 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stocks finished mostly higher on Tuesday and both Indonesia and Malaysia hit all-time closing highs as further signs of economic recovery in the United States bolstered sentiment in the region.
Jakarta's Composite Index <.JKSE> climbed 1.2 percent to a record high of 4,215.44, led by a 39 percent gain in PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk, also the most actively traded stock on the bourse.
Shares in Indonesia's sixth-biggest lender surged after a $7.2 billion takeover bid by Singapore's DBS Group.
DBS shares, the most actively traded on Singapore's bourse, fell 2.8 percent, dragging the city-state's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> 0.04 percent lower and erasing early gains.
The dollar rose 1 percent against the yen, while safe-haven bonds slid. Federal Reserve policymakers, in their March meeting minutes, noted recent signs of slightly stronger growth but remained cautious about a broad pick-up in U.S. economic activity.
Still, the minutes suggested the appetite for another dose of stimulus via quantitative easing, so-called QE3, has eased.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 64.94 points, or 0.49 percent, to end at 13,199.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 5.66 points, or 0.40 percent, at 1,413.38, retreating from a four-year high.
NYMEX- NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures fell on Tuesday as worries about lackluster demand and fading prospects for more monetary stimulus from the U.S. central bank countered concerns about potential supply disruptions.
Federal Reserve policymakers appear less inclined to implement any more monetary stimulus as the U.S. economy gradually improves, according to minutes for the central bank's March meeting.
Oil prices also felt pressure from news that, according to industry sources, Saudi Arabia is likely to maintain high oil production in the event consumer countries release strategic oil reserves.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May crude
CBOT SOYBEANS- Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade fell, on a
profit-taking setback after the spot contract
CBOT soybeans had increased 4.8 percent in the previous two sessions.
Soymeal followed soybeans lower on profit-taking and some reports of a softening cash soymeal basis in the U.S. Midwest following a pickup in farmer soybean sales in recent days.
Informa Economics CEO Bruce Scherr said the firm lowered its forecast of U.S. 2012 soybean seedings to 74.2 million acres, from 75.1 million previously. But the figure was above USDA's current 2012 forecast of 73.9 million. [ID:nL2E8F386T]
FCPO- SINGAPORE, April 3 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures touched their highest in more than a year on Tuesday, riding on the back of a smaller soybean crop and recovering palm oil exports, but ended the day almost flat, as traders scrambled to lock in profit.
Prices touched a high of 3,566 ringgit, a level unseen since March 9 last year, driving traders to book profit, and erasing gains after the midday break.
"Today the market volume's a bit light, at around 20,000 lots," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "There's a bit of profit-taking going on after palm oil broke a new high."
Benchmark June palm oil futures
Traded volumes stood at around 20,406 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly lower than the usual 25,000 lots.
REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, April 3 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stocks finished mostly higher on Tuesday and both Indonesia and Malaysia hit all-time closing highs as further signs of economic recovery in the United States bolstered sentiment in the region.
Jakarta's Composite Index <.JKSE> climbed 1.2 percent to a record high of 4,215.44, led by a 39 percent gain in PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk
Shares in Indonesia's sixth-biggest lender surged after a $7.2 billion takeover bid by Singapore's DBS Group.
DBS shares, the most actively traded on Singapore's bourse, fell 2.8 percent, dragging the city-state's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> 0.04 percent lower and erasing early gains.
