Oil prices extend losses in Asian trade

#GNN - #SINGAPORE: #Oil #prices tumbled further in #Asia Thursday as concerns eased that fresh Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine would have an immediate impact on global oil supplies, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery slipped 66 cents to $99.61 while Brent crude for September was down 29 cents at $106.22 in mid-morning trade. WTI fell 70 cents in New York trade and Brent lost $1.21 in London on Wednesday despite upbeat US stockpiles and economic growth data.

"As Russia has yet to respond to the (new) US and European Union sanctions with actions that could impact oil supplies, fears of disruption in crude stocks abated and helped to ease benchmark prices," said Sanjeev Gupta, head of the Asia-Pacific oil and gas practice at consultancy EY.

Washington and Brussels announced on Tuesday the strongest sanctions against Russia since the Cold War over Moscow´s annexation of Crimea and support for Ukraine separatists who are accused of shooting down a Malaysian passenger jet this month.

Rosneft, Russia´s state-held oil giant, is one of the targets of the sanctions, with a tightening of western exports of technology needed to explore and extract energy from remote Russian regions.

The firm said last week it is working on plans to minimising the impact of the sanctions. The oil market mostly shrugged off better-than-expected official US gross domestic product and stockpiles data.

The US economy grew a forecast-beating 4.0 percent in the second quarter, rebounding from a 2.1 percent slump in the first three months linked to severe winter weather, the Commerce Department reported.

The Department of Energy said crude-oil stockpiles fell 3.7 million barrels to 367.4 million in the week ended July 25, more than double what was expected.(GNN)(AFP)(AIP)

Dollar dips after Wall Street rally

#GNN - #TOKYO: The #dollar edged back against the yen in Asian trade Thursday after surging to a near four-month high in US trade in response to forecast-beating US economic growth data.

In early trade in Tokyo the greenback bought 102.78 yen, compared with 102.81 yen late in New York but still well up from the 102.11 yen earlier in Japan. It had surged to 103.09 yen on Wall Street  its strongest since early April after the Commerce Department said the US economy grew 4.0 percent in the second quarter, much more than the 3.0 percent predicted.

That was also a sharp rebound from the 2.1 percent contraction in the previous three months that was caused by a severe winter.

The euro bought $1.3396 in Tokyo midday trade, compared with $1.3395 in New York where it hit a new eight-month low of $1.3367.The single currency also fetched 137.68 yen on Thursday against 137.73 yen in US trade.

While the dollar was boosted by the growth data it retreated after the Federal Reserve said after its latest policy meeting that while the economy was strengthening, it was still concerned about the jobs market and would keep interest rates low for as long as needed.

The statement was "relatively dovish on the labour market, with the Fed keen to retain the message that rate hikes are some time away," National Australia Bank said in a note.

Investors seemed little concerned after talks between Argentina and the US hedge funds it has branded "vultures" failed to reach agreement Wednesday on a debt repayment, effectively pushing the country into default.(GNN)(AIP)(AFP)

Tokyo stocks open up 0.28 percent

(GNN) - TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened 0.28 percent higher on Thursday after the blue-chip Dow index powered to a new record on Wall Street thanks to robust US company earnings.

The Nikkei 225 index gained 43.57 points to 15,422.87 at the start. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at a record high Wednesday as strong Intel earnings and a new IBM venture with Apple boosted the blue-chip index.

The 30-issue Dow jumped 0.45 percent to 17,138.20 while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.42 percent to 1,981.57.The dollar was firm after a US Federal Reserve report said economic activity continued to pick up steam across the world´s largest economy.

The greenback was changing hands at 101.64 yen in early Asian trade Thursday compared with 101.69 yen in New York Wednesday afternoon.

The euro bought $1.3527 and 137.49 yen against $1.3524 and 137.55 yen in US trade.

Oil prices mixed in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Oil prices were mixed in Asia on Monday as a bulge in US stockpiles indicated weak demand in the world's biggest economy,

while there are growing concerns about supplies from the Middle East.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in

December, was down 13 cents at $97.72 in mid-morning trade, while Brent North Sea crude for December rose 25 cents to $107.18. (GNN) (Yoogle)