NYMEX- TOKYO, Sept 3 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures were steady on Monday due to the long U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend and following a 2 percent gain on Friday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was prepared to take further steps to strengthen the economy if necessary.
FUNDAMENTALS
• NYMEX crude for October delivery CLc1 was down 3 cents at $96.44 a barrel by 2252 GMT, after settling up $1.85 at $96.47 on Friday, also on the back of stronger-than-expected U.S. factory orders and consumer sentiment data.
U.S. markets are closed on Monday for the U.S. Labor Day holiday, and there will be no settlement on Monday.
• London Brent crude for October delivery LCOc1 climbed 1 cent to $114.58 a barrel, after settling up $1.92.
• U.S. watchdogs said 71.5 percent of daily oil production and 55.62 percent of daily natural gas output in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico remained shut on Sunday due to Hurricane Isaac, whose remnants were drenching sections of the Midwest. (Full Story)
The U.S. Department of Energy loaned 1 million barrels of light sweet crude oil to Marathon Petroleum Corp MPC.N from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) due to short-term supply problems created by Isaac. (Full Story)
• Crude prices got support from reports Germany and Italy remain opposed to a release of emergency consumer oil stocks, which created further uncertainty about the timing of any possible release as sanctions on Iranian exports have tightened the market and boosted prices. (Full Story)
• Iran's oil exports are at their levels and are unaffected by Western embargoes, an Iranian oil official was quoted as saying on Sunday. (Full Story)
• Russia extracted oil at a record pace of 10.38 million barrels per day in August, a level unseen since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as companies took advantage of high oil prices, Energy Ministry data showed on Sunday. (Full Story)
• Norwegian oil drilling workers reached a last-minute wage deal with employers on Sunday to avoid a second strike in just two months, bringing relief to one of the world's top oil and gas exporters. (Full Story)
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged world powers on Sunday to set a "clear red line" for Tehran's atomic programme that would convince Iran they were determined to prevent it from obtaining nuclear arms. (Full Story)
• Speculators increased their bets on rising oil prices by 12 percent in the week to Aug. 28, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday, with data showing these positions at their highest level since early May.
FCPO- KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose on Monday, following strong exports last month and after U.S. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke kept the door open for further stimulus that could prop up global growth and support commodity demand.
Palm oil exports posted a gain of 18 percent in August from a month ago to the highest level this year, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Friday, in part boosted by the edible oil's huge discount to competing soyoil. PALM/ITS
"Exports were very good, the market is going for a temporary upward trend," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "Bear in mind that soyoil is still trading at a premium over palm oil of $285. All these factors are a plus for palm oil."
The benchmark November 2012 contract FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.8 percent to close at 3,073 ringgit ($985) per tonne. Futures posted a loss of 1.6 percent last week, snapping two straight weeks of gains.
Total traded volume stood at 31,968 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.
Technicals look bearish as palm oil is expected to end its current rebound in a resistance zone of 3,050 to 3,067 ringgit, followed by a drop towards 2,978 ringgit, said Reuters analyst Wang Tao. (Full Story)
But market sentiment remained positive on healthy export demand for palm oil and after the minutes of the last meeting of Fed policymakers suggested the central bank was leaning towards further stimulus to boost the economy. (Full Story)
Exports surged to 1.45 million tonnes in August, bolstered by higher shipments of crude products and a demand recovery in major food buyers China and India.
Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, will delay issuing August exports data to Tuesday. PALM/SGS
Crude oil was almost flat on Monday after Chinese data showed a deepening slowdown in the world's biggest energy consumer, but prices were supported by hopes of global stimulus measures as central banks try to revive economic growth. O/R
In other vegetable oil markets, the most active January 2013 soyoil contract DBYF3 on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended 2.4 percent higher after hitting a contract-high. The U.S. soybean futures markets were closed for the Labor Day holiday.
REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets ended mostly higher on Monday amid broad-based buying in regional blue-chip stocks as comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke renewed market hopes about stimulus support.
Indonesia outperformed the region. Jakarta's Composite Index .JKSE climbed 1.4 percent, with PT Astra International Tbk ASII.JK, a leading motorcycle dealer and a proxy of Indonesia's consumer sector, up 2.2 percent.
The Philippine Index .PSI edged up 0.4 percent at its highest close in more than two weeks. Thailand's main SET index .SETI finished up 0.8 percent at the highest close in more than a week.
