DJI - NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday
after the Bank of Japan announced aggressive, market-lifting policies to
jump-start its economy, but weak U.S. jobs data capped gains.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 55.76 points,
or 0.38 percent, to 14,606.11, the S&P 500 gained 6.28 points,
or 0.4 percent, to 1,559.97 and the Nasdaq Composite added 6.38 points,
or 0.2 percent, to 3,224.98.
Oils - NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Brent
crude prices hit a five-month low near $105 a barrel on Thursday as a jump in
U.S. jobless claims triggered a second day of widespread selling in oil
markets, but the benchmark crude pared losses late in New York as the euro
strengthened.
Over the last two sessions Brent,
U.S. crude and U.S. gasoline have all lost more than 4 percent, with traders
citing ample supplies and concerns about demand.
Brent crude settled down 77 cents at $106.34 a barrel. That was more than a dollar above
the session low of $105.29, which was the lowest level since early November.
U.S. crude oil futures settled at $93.26, down $1.19 but also more than a dollar above the day's low.
U.S. gasoline futures settled down almost 2 cents at $2.90 a
gallon.
Total Brent crude trading volume was
37 percent above the 30-day moving average, but was down slightly from the
previous session when more than a million contracts changed hands.
Trading volume surged early in New
York after data showed U.S. initial jobless claims hit a four-month high last
week, indicating the labor market recovery in the world's largest oil consumer
slowed in March.
The previous session, oil slumped
when the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) report
showed crude oil inventories at a 22-year high.
"Data has been disappointing
all week long, and the oversupply of crude just confirmed that," said Bill
Baruch, senior market strategist at iitrader.com LLC in Chicago.
CBOT Soybean - April 4 (Reuters) - Soybean futures
on the Chicago Board of Trade fell to a 10-month low Thursday on technical
selling and worries that bird flu in China could limit feed demand in the
world's biggest soy buyer, traders said.
- China said it was mobilizing resources to combat a new strain of bird flu that has killed five people as Japan and Hong Kong stepped up vigilance against the virus and Vietnam banned imports of Chinese poultry.
- Front-month May soybeans fell to $13.61 a bushel, the lowest spot soybean price since June 6, but pared losses into the close.
- May and July soybeans lost ground to new-crop November on spreads.
- Soyoil lower in sympathy with soybeans, crude oil and palm oil.
- Strength in new-crop soybeans limited by fears that potential U.S. planting delays might prompt farmers to switch some corn acres to beans. Cold and wet weather in the Midwest will continue to slow spring fieldwork, an agricultural meteorologist said.
- USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 392,700 for 2012/13, within a range of trade expectations, and 355,100 for 2013/14, above trade expectations.
- USDA reported weekly soymeal export sales at 92,600 for 2012/13 and 12,700 for 2013/14. For soyoil, USDA reported net cancellations of 4,600 tonnes.
- Malaysian palm oil futures inched lower, tracking weakness in competing soy markets, with many investors preferring to stay on the sidelines ahead of March stocks data due next week from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.
BMD CPO - KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures inched lower on Thursday, tracking weakness in
competing soy markets, with many investors preferring to stay on the sidelines
ahead of key industry data due next week.
Industry regulator Malaysian Palm
Oil Board (MPOB) will release on Wednesday official figures of March's output
levels and palm inventories, an important indicator that could help gauge the
direction of the world's most traded edible oil.
Cargo surveyor data out earlier this
week showed better exports in March than February, marking the first monthly
rise in four months, boosted by higher shipments of refined products.
On Thursday, however, investors
focused on soybean's fall for a second straight session. Lower soybean prices
could wean away demand from palm oil.
"The external implications are
bearish and that is going to put a lot of influence on the market even though
the local front is supportive," said a trader with a foreign commodities
brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
By market close, the benchmark June
contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange
had edged down 0.2 percent to 2,392 ringgit ($777) per tonne. Prices on Monday
fell to 2,335 ringgit, the lowest in nearly three months.
Total traded volume stood at 23,044
lots of 25 tonnes each, thinner than the average 35,000 lots seen so far this
year.
"We're waiting for next week
when the MPOB figures will be announced. I'm looking at a short term range of
2,350 to 2,400 ringgit," the Kuala Lumpur trader added.
Stockpiles in Malaysia, the world's
No.2 producer of the tropical oil, currently stand at 2.44 million tonnes. Investors
are pinning hopes that the higher exports in March would ease stocks to at
least 2.35 million tonnes, despite expectations that production levels could
have risen as well.
In other markets, Brent crude oil
steadied at around $107 per barrel on Thursday after its biggest fall in five
months on signs of faltering economic growth and rising stocks of fuel.
In vegetable oil markets, U.S.
soyoil for May delivery gained 0.2 percent in late Asian trade. The
Dalian Commodities Exchange will be closed until Monday for a public holiday in
China.
