DJI- NEW YORK,Oct 31 (Reuters) - Wall Street
resumed trading on Wednesday with shares ending near break-even after monster storm
Sandy forced a two-day closure due to weather for the first time since 1888,
but U.S. gasoline futures surged in the face of potentially long-term supply
disruptions at the East Coast's second-largest refinery.
The storm left swaths of the region
crippled by flooding and power outages, suggesting lower fuel consumption. But
gasoline futures for November hit their highest level in more than two weeks as
traders scrambled to cover positions ahead of the contract's expiry later
Wednesday.
U.S. lumber futures soared on
expectations for increased demand, while gasoline surged on concerns that a
Phillips 66 refinery in Linden, New Jersey, could shut for an extended period
after Sandy cut power to the plant that produces 238,000 barrels a day of fuel.
The storm, which killed at least 64
people, may cause up to $15 billion in insured losses, according to one
disaster-modeling company. Speculators were behind much of the buying in lumber
and gasoline futures in anticipation of rising demand, traders said.
"You see a lot of funds hedging
themselves and speculation there could be a lot of damage" from Sandy,
said Richard Ilczyszyn, chief market strategist and founder of iitrader.com LLC
in Chicago.
Contracts for November, January and
March lumber futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange rose by the daily
trading limit of $10 per thousand board feet and remained locked at those
levels, effectively shutting down trading.
Many traders were unable to get to
their offices or work from home because of wide-ranging power outages and no or
limited public transit across the region.
The New York Stock Exchange
re-opened, though not everything was back to normal. Cell phone reception was
sketchy on NYSE's floor, so traders milled outside to make calls, e-mail or
text.
"The open was a positive relief
after four days of sitting on edge," said Larry Leibowitz, chief operating
officer at the exchange's operator, NYSE Euronext.
"No matter how much planning you do, you can’t foresee that kind of
flooding.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 10.67 points, or 0.08 percent, at 13,096.54. The Standard &
Poor's 500 Index rose 0.22 points, or 0.02 percent, at
1,412.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.36 percent, or 10.72 points, at 2,977.23.
For the month, the Dow fell 2.5
percent, the S&P 500 slipped 2 percent and the Nasdaq was off 4.5 percent.
MSCI's all-country world equity
index was up 0.01 percent at 329.16, on
track for its first monthly loss since May. The index has gained more than 10
percent so far this year.
In Europe, stocks dipped after a
mixed batch of corporate earnings, pressured by heavyweight British oil and gas
firm BG Group, which warned of no production growth next
year.
The FTSEurofirst 300 closed down 0.6 percent at 1,096.38. BG slumped 13.7 percent to 1,147.5 pence,
the biggest loser on Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index.
Crude oil prices were mixed, with
Brent crude closing below $109 a barrel. Brent for December delivery fell 38 cents to settle at $108.70. U.S. light sweet crude oil settled up 56 cents at $86.24 a barrel.
U.S. Treasury debt prices rose on
month-end extension trades as trading resumed after Sandy shut the bond market
for a day and a half.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury
note was up 4/32 in price to yield 1.6962
percent.
The euro edged up against the dollar
and headed toward its third straight month of gains. But uncertainty about the
heavily indebted euro-zone economies was set to limit further strength.
The euro rose 0.01 percent against the dollar to $1.2957.
NYMEX- NEW
YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - U.S. crude
futures rose on Wednesday, as traders continued to assess the impact of
Hurricane Sandy on East Coast oil infrastructure and awaited government oil
inventory data delayed until Thursday because of the massive storm.
U.S. crude posted a second straight
monthly decline, falling 6.5 percent in October.
CBOT SOYBEAN- Soybean
futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rose for a second day
on technical buying, including short-covering after Monday's heavy
sell-off, and concerns about planting delays in South America,
traders said.
* Traders attributed some of the
buying to funds adjusting end-month positions. CBOT front-month soybeans fell about 3 percent for the month of October.
- Soymeal gained against soyoil on inter-market spreads.
- Soybeans supported by ideas that planting delays due to
excessive rain in Argentina and dry conditions in northern Brazil may push
back the harvest, extending the time period when the United States
dominates the soy export market.
- Analysts expect USDA's crop progress report later on
Wednesday to show the U.S. soybean harvest as 88 percent complete. The
report's release was delayed by two days because of federal office
closings this week for Hurricane Sandy.
- Rain and wind in the eastern U.S. Midwest this week
slowed the harvest of remaining corn and soybeans and may have caused some
crop loss, but drier weather is expected soon.
- Deliveries against CBOT November soybean futures on
first notice day totaled 500 contracts, at the high end of trade
expectations of zero to 500 contracts.
USDA confirmed sales of 25,000 tonnes of U.S.
soyoil to China for 2012/13 delivery.
FCPO- KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures inched down on Wednesday as the strongest exports
recorded for this year may do little to cut into high stocks at a time when
output is surging in the world's second largest producer of the edible oil.
Cargo surveyor data showed that
Malaysian palm oil shipments in October climbed to about 1.6 million tonnes --
the highest this year, although stocks are set to hit another record beyond
2.48 million tonnes.
"Based on the shipment number,
we will still end up with a higher stockpile because October's production is
still very high," said OSK Research analyst Alvin Tai. "Exports
rising higher month-on-month is not surprising, but the quantum still needs to
be stronger."
The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.2 percent lower at 2,496
ringgit ($819) per tonne. Total traded volumes stood at 28,495 lots of 25
tonnes each, slightly higher to the usual 25,000 lots.
Technicals showed that the bearish
target of 2,379 ringgit per tonne for Malaysian palm oil has been adjusted to
2,468 ringgit based on its falling speed, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
Palm oil dropped to a two-week low
earlier this week after its biggest rival and top producer Indonesia planned to
lower monthly export taxes in November after international prices fell this
month.
The lower taxes will lift margins
for Indonesians and shift demand away from competing Malaysian products.
Officials in Jakarta said they will not alter their tax structure which is
aimed at driving its domestic palm oil downstream industry.
"The export tax structure is
progressive and it has been adjusted to fluctuated palm oil prices in the
international market," director general of agriculture-based industry
Benny Wachjudi said at an industry meeting.
"It is very different from the
Malaysian government's export tax policy. I am sure Malaysian export tax policy
will not last long because it is not adjusted to the development on palm oil
prices in the international market."
Brent crude held steady near $109 a
barrel on Wednesday after the huge storm Sandy whiplashed the U.S. East Coast,
reducing fuel demand even as refineries in the region gradually resumed
operations.
U.S. soyoil for December delivery inched up 0.7 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active May 2013 soybean oil
contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.7
percent.
REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, Oct 31 (Reuters) -
Southeast Asian stocks mostly fell on Wednesday, with Indonesia and Malaysia
under mild selling pressure after recent gains to record highs. Thai shares
recouped earlier losses amid late buying into battered blue chips such as
Kasikornbank.
Jakarta's Composiste Index finished down 0.3 percent at 4,350.29, coming off Tuesday's record close of
4,364.59. It was up 2.06 percent on the month, the region's second best after
Malaysia's 2.22 percent gain in October.
Malaysia's main index closed at 1,673.07 , ending a five-day rising spell. T he Philippine index ended nearly flat, with a monthly gain of 1.5 percent. Manila will be closed on
Thursday and Friday for market holidays.
The Thai SET index was up 0.3 percent, ending October nearly unchanged. Kasikornbank rose for a
second session, climbing 1.1 percent to the highest in more than two weeks.
Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange VN Index eased 0.37 percent, extending its losses for a third session. It fell for the
sixth month in October, down 1.1 percent.