RTRS - Indonesia keeps crude palm oil tax unchanged at 10.5 pct for April

JAKARTA, March 28 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, kept its export tax for crude palm oil for April unchanged at 10.5 percent, a trade ministry official said on Thursday.

The government also kept unchanged its export tax for RBD palm olein at 4 percent for April. The tax on cocoa bean exports was kept at 5 percent.

Cypriot Banks to Open for First Time in 2 Weeks With Curbs

March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Cyprus’s banks will open their doors to customers today for the first time in almost two weeks, with new rules curbing access to cash. 


The Central Bank of Cyprus’s capital controls will include a 300-euro ($383) daily limit on withdrawals and restrictions on transfers to accounts outside the country. Banks will open at midday and close at 6 p.m. local time, Yiangos Dimitriou, head of the central bank’s audit department, said yesterday in comments broadcast on state-run CyBC television.


 “Please, let’s all be calm and be careful not to create more problems,” Dimitriou said. “It will serve no purpose for us to run to banks and try to find ways to get money. To get it where?”




Cyprus’s lenders have been closed since March 16, when the European Union presented a plan to force losses on all depositors in exchange for a 10 billion-euro bailout. 



That plan touched off protests and political upheaval in the island nation, and was rejected by the country’s parliament. A subsequent agreement shuts Cyprus Popular Bank Pcl, the nation’s No. 2 lender, and imposes larger losses on uninsured depositors. 



The controls will be in force for seven days, according to a statement from the Finance Ministry. Dimitriou had said they would be in effect for four days. Their effectiveness will be evaluated daily, he said.




Check Cashing




Parliament last week gave wide-ranging powers to the central bank governor, Panicos Demetriades, and Finance Minister Michael Sarris, who have spent the last days deciding which measures to implement.





The measures chosen include bans on terminating time deposits and cashing checks. Customers can transfer at most 5,000 euros per month from a given financial institution.





The restrictions aim to protect the country’s financial industry, while trying to uphold the principle of free movement of capital within the EU, Aliki Stylianou, a central bank spokeswoman, said yesterday before the measures were announced.





Cyprus in June became the fifth euro-area nation to request a rescue, after Greece’s debt restructuring trashed the financial health of lenders including Bank of Cyprus Plc, the nation’s biggest lender and Cyprus Popular.





Cyprus’s 18 billion-euro economy is the third-smallest in the 17-nation euro area. Before the bailout, which was coupled with an austerity package, the European Commission predicted a contraction of 3.5 percent in 2013. Economists said afterward that the damage will be greater.




Rating Ceiling




Moody’s Investors Service yesterday lowered the highest rating that can be assigned to a domestic debt issuer in Cyprus to Caa2, citing a growing risk that the country would exit the euro. The company said Cyprus’s Caa3 government bond rating and negative outlook remain unchanged.





Listed Greek companies reported the amounts of the deposits they held in Cypriots at the request of the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission. Jumbo SA, Greece’s biggest toy retailer, said it holds about 58 million euros at Bank of Cyprus and predicted sales in Cyprus would drop as much as 25 percent by the end of the current fiscal year.





The Athens Stock Exchange index dropped 4 percent to 850 yesterday and has lost 12 percent since the March 16 proposal.





The Cyprus Stock Exchange has been shut throughout the period. Deposits at Alpha Bank SA’s Cypriot unit stood at 2.7 billion euros at the end of 2012, Chief Financial Officer Vassilios Psaltis said yesterday. Alpha, Greece’s third-largest lender and the one with the biggest presence in Cyprus, reported a 1.1 billion-euro loss for the year.

Trader's highlight

DJI - NEW YORK, March 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rebounded from early declines to close little changed on Wednesday, but investors were still worried about the chance of a run on Cypriot banks and its possible implications for other euro-zone lenders.

Financial shares fell on both sides of the Atlantic on concerns that depositors at banks in other euro-zone countries will withdraw large amounts of money. Investors are worried that the Cyprus bailout would become a template for solving banking crises in the region.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8 percent in morning trading, but in line with recent market behavior, investors took the drop as a buying opportunity. By the close, late buying had helped the S&P 500 cut most of the session's losses to end down less than a point.

The benchmark S&P 500 has traded within 10 points of its record closing high for 13 consecutive days, without once moving above the 1,565.15 level set Oct. 9, 2007. It is on track to post its fifth consecutive month of gains.

"Any time you have a run like we've had, market participants will look for a reason to take profits," said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston.

"But pauses in this uptrend have been short and shallow. Everybody seems to want to buy in the slightest pullback."

Cypriot banks are due to reopen on Thursday while limiting withdrawals, banning checks and curbing the use of Cypriot credit cards abroad, after being closed for almost two weeks. Uninsured deposits in Cyprus are expected to be reduced as part of the rescue deal.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 33.49 points or 0.23 percent, to 14,526.16 at the close. The S&P 500 lost just 0.92 of a point, or 0.06 percent, to finish at 1,562.85. The Nasdaq Composite added 4.04 points or 0.12 percent, to close at 3,256.52.

Oils - NEW YORK, March 27 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday in choppy trading as U.S. heating oil rallied on falling distillate inventories, while rising crude oil stockpiles in the United States and the stronger dollar limited gains.

News of fire alarms going off at Imperial Oil Ltd's site of its 121,000 barrel per day refinery near Sarnia, Ontario, sparked U.S. crude to turn higher in the hour ahead of settlement. Imperial later said the refinery was unaffected by the fire. 

Earlier, U.S. crude had declined, widening its discount to Brent a day after the spread between the two crude futures contracts had narrowed to the smallest since July.

Supporting Brent prices was news that South Korea has postponed an oil tax decision by three months, according to sources with knowledge of the matter, a move that could boost demand for North Sea crudes.

Under a free trade agreement with the European Union, South Korean refiners could import North Sea crudes tax-free. The refiners would then process the crude into products for export and claim a tax rebate.

Brent May crude rose 33 cents to settle at $109.69 a barrel, after reaching $109.98, testing resistance near its 200-day moving average of $109.90. The session low was $108.85.

Brent prices were on track to post a decline of more than 1 percent for the first quarter 2013 and for the month.

U.S. May crude rose 24 cents to settle at $96.58 a barrel, having traded from $95.58 to $96.84, which was the highest intraday price in five weeks.

U.S. crude futures were on pace to finish the first quarter with a 5 percent gain and up nearly 5 percent for the month.

Helping limit crude oil price gains, the dollar index strengthened as the euro fell to a four-month low versus the U.S. currency on concerns about a weak Italian bond auction and worries over Cyprus' rescue deal.

"The externals have been a negative for oil prices with the euro falling to its lowest level since mid-November of 2012," said Dominick Chirichella of Energy Management Institute.

"The market is still uneasy about the type of deal that was done for Cyprus."

U.S. heating oil futures rose 1.8 percent, or 3.41 cents to settle at $2.9154 a gallon after the government's weekly inventory report showed distillate stocks fell 4.51 million barrels last week, much more than the 800,000-barrel drop analysts expected.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said U.S. crude inventories rose 3.26 million barrels, above the forecast for an increase of 700,000 barrels in a Reuters survey of analysts.

Gasoline stocks fell 1.6 million barrels, the EIA said, more than the expected drop of 1.0 million barrels, but U.S. gasoline futures managed only a 0.49 cent gain to settle at $3.1155 a gallon.

Crude oil stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub rose 439,000 barrels to 49.47 million, the EIA said.

Brent's premium to U.S. crude reached $13.94 a barrel, then the spread narrowed back to end at $13.11 based on contract settlements.

On Tuesday, the premium fell as low as $12.52 during the session, the lowest since July 2012 and in retreat after pushing to the 2013 peak of $23.45 on Feb. 8.

"One of the reasons why (U.S.) crude has been rallying versus Brent was because of the trend of supplies falling at Cushing, but this build in Cushing is weighing now," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Despite the bearish implications of rising U.S. crude oil supply, upbeat data in recent months has boosted confidence in the recovery of the world's top economy and No. 1 oil consumer.

Crude prices on either side of the Atlantic rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday after strong U.S. economic reports fed optimism about the economy and energy demand.

CBOT Soybean - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures were higher on positioning and bull-spreading ahead of the release at 11:00 am CDT (1600 GMT) on Thursday of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) March plantings and quarterly stocks reports, traders said.

 

·         An average of analysts' estimates pegged 2013 U.S. soybean    plantings at a record large 78.394 million acres and up from    77.198 million last year. U.S. farmers may plant   a record large soy area due to high prices caused by last year's   drought.

·         An average of analysts' estimates pegged the U.S. soybean stocks on March 1, 2013 at 935 million bushels, below the 1.374  million on March 1 last year.  Soybean stocks are seen falling, with soy supplies forecast to hit their lowest level in nine years. 

 

·         Rains are expected across most of Brazil next week which  will cause some delays in soybean harvest and the rains also  will reach much of Argentina early next week, aiding double-drop soybean prospects, according to Commodity Weather Group.

 

·         Malaysian palm oil future inched up on Wednesday on   expectations that lower production may ease stocks further, but  worries over the euro zone curbed appetite for risk.

·         Palm oil on the European vegetable oils market rose in a   mild technical rebound on Wednesday following recent losses on   disappointing export numbers, supported by hopes that reduced production could still lead to lower Malaysian palm oil stocks.

 

·         ICE Canada canola futures were generally following the   CBOT soy complex ahead of Thursday's USDA quarterly stocks and plantings report but tight supplies in the cash market also were  underpinning canola futures. 

 

·         Cash soybean spot basis bids were higher at processors and river terminals around the U.S. Midwest on Wednesday amid good   demand and tight supplies, dealers said. 

 

·         Estimates ahead of the release at 7:30 a.m. CDT (1230 GMT)    of USDA's weekly export sales report totaled zero to 475,000 tonnes of old-crop U.S. soybeans and 150,000 to 400,000 tonnes   of new-crop soybeans. 

 

·         Key chart support for the May contract is at its 200-day  moving average of $14.44-1/2 per bushel. The nine-day relative strength index is at 56.

BMD CPO - SINGAPORE, March 27 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures inched up on Wednesday on expectations that lower production may ease stocks further, but worries over the euro zone curbed appetite for risk.

Losses in palm oil early in the week may also have lured some buyers back into the market. The tropical oil has lost around 1.8 percent so far this week, weighed down by weaker export demand and uncertainty surrounding Cyprus's bailout deal.

"Yes, exports were lower (for the first 25 days), but we expect them to pick up for the full month. Stocks could dip to 2.35 million tonnes or lower," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

By the market close, the benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had gained 0.4 percent to 2,447 ringgit ($789) per tonne. Prices traded in a tight range 2,430 to 2,467 ringgit.

Total traded volume stood at 34,133 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

But traders are still counting on a recovery in demand to support prices after a surprise drop in shipments for the first 25 days of March as major buyer India bought less of the crude grade. Cargo surveyors will release export data for the full month on Monday.

Overseas investors also stayed on the sidelines ahead of a planting intentions report on soybeans by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday.

In other markets, Brent crude held above $109 a barrel late on Wednesday in Asia as robust U.S. data which brightened the outlook for demand from the world's biggest oil consumer outweighed worries over the euro zone.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for May delivery gained 0.2 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange closed 0.6 percent higher.

Regional Equities - BANGKOK, March 27 (Reuters) - The main Philippine index scaled a record high on Wednesday after Fitch Ratings upgraded the country's sovereign rating to investment grade and the Indonesian index closed at an all-time high after the appointment of a new central bank governor.

Other Southeast Asian stock markets crawled higher, joining those in broader Asia, comforted by positive U.S. data.

Philippines was an outperformer on the day, ending up 2.7 percent at 6,847.47, as investors increased positions in large caps after the country won an investment grade credit rating for the first time.

"It's something that was already expected by the stock market but I think investors will welcome it and that will push the main index to 7,000 possibly next week," said Jose Vistan, head of research at AB Capital Securities.

Shares in SM Investments Corp, the biggest company by market value, jumped 5.3 percent while Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. , the second biggest, climbed 4.2 percent.

Vistan expects the market to rally further despite concerns over its high valuation. It traded at 20.77 times the price-to-earnings multiple, higher than regional peers, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The Philippine stock market will be closed on Thursday and Friday for the Easter holidays. Trading will resume on Monday.

Jakarta's Composite Index , the second best performer on the day, ended 1.8 percent higher at 4928.10, surpassing its previous record close of 4,874.49 set on March 8.

Investors bought large caps such as Bank Mandiri  which gained 4.2 percent after parliament approved Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo's proposed switch to become the next head of the central bank. 

The Thai SET index  rose 1.1 percent to a 1-week high of 1,560.87 as investors bought shares in companies expected to report strong quarterly results but some small and mid-cap stocks were hit by a tightening in trading rules.

Nomura Equity Research maintained a year-end target 1,600 for the SET index.

"2013 marks the beginning of a seven-year government spending on infrastructure. This, we believe, will likely keep the economy and earnings for domestic sectors buoyant over the next few years," Nomura said in a note.