Crude Oil and Natural Gas Trade On A Positive Note Ahead Of EIA Inventory

         In the Asian session crude oil continues to gain trading at 92.72 adding 18 cents. West Texas Intermediate oil traded near the highest level in two weeks after an industry report showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell for the first time in a month. The API weekly report released prior to the official EIA inventory showed a decline in stock after the EIA showed a surprising increase in inventory last week. Crude supplies declined by 1.4 million barrels. 

Analysts polled were looking for a 2.3 million-barrel climb. Gasoline inventories also fell by 3.1 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles lost 2.2 million barrels, the trade group said. Analysts forecast a fall of 1.5 million barrels for gasoline supplies and a 2 million-barrel decline for distillate stockpiles.  This week’s EIA projected inventory is expected to show that crude oil added 2.4mn barrels differing from the API release yesterday.

Brent crude oil prices declined for the third straight session in choppy trading session, while US oil posted a fourth consecutive gain, tightening the spread between the two contracts to the narrowest since January. On Tuesday the EIA cut its 2013 world oil demand forecast but also cut the forecast for non-OPEC output having a neutral effect on the markets.

IEA Report Weighs On Crude Oil Prices

                         This morning crude oil continues to ease dipping 23 cents to trade at $92.28. Crude oil retraced back from the high of $93.40 and in the process settled lower yesterday at $92.51. A rise in US oil inventories and bearish forecast from the IEA weighed on the sentiment. The EIA reported that crude stocks rose 2.62mn barrels compared with the expectations for a rise of 2.3mn barrels. Meanwhile, International Energy Agency has cut estimates for global oil demand. Crude oil prices closed slightly lower, as better than-expected US retail sales lifted the dollar to a 7-month high, putting an end to a climb in dollar-denominated assets. The dollar climbed to a 7-month high against a basket of currencies and a 3-month peak against the euro on Wednesday, as robust US retail sales data bolstered prospects for the world’s largest economy. The dollar index rose to 82.882, after a high of 83.055 — its highest level since early August and compared with 82.585 on late Tuesday.

The International Energy Agency most recent report just released continued to inch lower on its forecasts for global oil demand while increasing its expectations of supply growth for this year.
Since January, the Paris-based energy watchdog has cut 200,000 barrels a day from its forecast for oil demand in 2013 and added 200,000 barrels a day to its expectations of supply growth from countries outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC. 

Gold and Silver Give Back A Bit Of Yesterday’s Gains

This morning in Asian trading precious metals are giving back some of yesterday’s gains, with gold trading down $2.20 at 1586.80 and silver at 28.813. On Wednesday gold prices started the trading day on a strong note, however the gains faded at the end of the trading session.

 The gains were scaled back, as strong US retail sales number for February boosted the appetite for riskier assets. The retail sales registered an increase of 1.1%, substantially above the estimates. Effectively, US equity markets have ended higher on nine consecutive trading sessions. Gold prices once again shied away from the psychological resistance of US$1,600/ounce and in this process registered a high, just 0.5 cents below this level.

During the Asian session today, traders saw positive eco data as Australian employers boosted payrolls in February by the most in almost 13 years, sending the currency to a one-month high as traders wound back bets the central bank will keep cutting interest rates. While on its neighbors listened as New Zealand’s central bank expects to keep borrowing costs at a record low until next year and signaled it may reduce its benchmark rate if the local dollar rises more than the economy justifies. The kiwi fell.

Zinc Rises on Speculation China to Further Loosen Rate Controls

                    Zinc rose in London, leading an advance in industrial metals, on speculation China’s new leaders will further loosen interest-rate controls this year. 

Twelve of 16 analysts expect China to relax or remove the cap on deposit rates or the floor on lending rates, according to a Bloomberg News survey conducted ahead of Xi Jinping’s appointment as president tomorrow. Metals also increased as the dollar weakened, making greenback-denominated commodities more attractive as an alternative investment. Some traders were also buying metals to close out bets on falling prices. 

“Metals have been looking closely at the dollar,” Mark Newson-Smith, head of sales at Xconnect Trading Ltd. in London, said by e-mail. He pointed to short-covering from “short-term” commodity trading advisers. “Confidence is returning as the dollar reverses slightly,” he said.Zinc for delivery in three months rose 0.7 percent to $2,000 a metric ton by 9:42 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Copper was little changed at $7,832 a ton, while the May- delivery contract fell 0.1 percent to $3.5495 a pound on the Comex in New York. Trading in the New York contract was 5.9 percent above the average in the past 100 days for the time of day. 

The fewest workers on record were fired in the U.S. in January and job openings rebounded, data showed yesterday. Sales at U.S. retailers probably rose 0.5 percent in February, according to a Bloomberg News survey. 

Increases in metals may be limited as a report may show industrial production in the euro-area shrunk in January. 

Copper stockpiles monitored by the LME rose for a 20th session to 520,500 tons, daily exchange figures showed. Inventories in New Orleans almost doubled this year while those in Johor, Malaysia, more than quadrupled.Aluminum, tin, nickel and lead rose in London.- BLOOMBERG

Copper Advances on China Autos, U.S. Jobs: Commodities at Close

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials rose 0.1 percent to settle at 649.62 at 3:59 p.m. New York time, led by industrial metals.

The UBS Bloomberg CMCI gauge of 26 prices advanced 0.3 percent to 1,551.55.

BASE METALS

Copper rose to the highest in more than a week as signs of strength in Chinese auto sales and gains in the U.S. labor market brightened demand prospects for industrial metals.

Wholesale deliveries of cars, multipurpose and sport- utility vehicles rose 20 percent in the two months ended Feb. 28 in the strongest start since 2010, according to a Chinese industry group. U.S. job openings climbed in January, and confidence among small businesses rose in February for a third month, reports showed.

On the Comex in New York, copper futures for May delivery advanced 1.1 percent to $3.5545 a pound. Earlier, the price reached $3.576, the highest for a most-active contract since Feb. 28.

On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months gained 0.9 percent to $7,830 a metric ton ($3.55 a pound). Zinc, nickel, tin, aluminum and lead also rose.

PRECIOUS METALS

Gold rose, capping the longest rally in six months, as Europe’s slumping economy increased speculation that central banks will expand stimulus measures, boosting demand for the metal as a store of value.

On the Comex, gold futures for April delivery climbed 0.9 percent to $1,591.70 an ounce. The price climbed for the fourth straight session, the longest rally since Aug 21.

Silver futures for May delivery rose 1.1 percent to $29.171 an ounce.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, platinum futures for April delivery fell 0.4 percent to $1,595 an ounce.

Palladium futures for June delivery dropped 0.5 percent to $775.50 an ounce.

CRUDE OIL

Crude oil advanced as the euro trimmed losses against the dollar and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased production.

On the Nymex, oil futures for April delivery rose 0.5 percent to $92.54 a barrel.

Brent oil for April settlement dropped 0.5 percent to $109.65 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

OAO Lukoil’s Litasco bought a cargo of Forties crude at the lowest differential in almost 11 months. Statoil ASA bid for Russian Urals blend at the highest spread in almost a month.

Daily exports of the 12 main grades of North Sea crude for loading in April will increase 8 percent to the highest in 10 months, programs obtained by Bloomberg News showed.

OIL PRODUCTS

Gasoline was little changed following wide price swings linked to volatile biofuel-credit prices.

On the Nymex, gasoline futures for April delivery slid 0.1 percent to $3.1502 a gallon. The price rose as much as 1.2 percent and dropped as much as 1.6 percent.

Heating-oil futures for April delivery fell 0.7 percent to $2.9484 a gallon.

Gold Gains But Lacks Conviction

Gold is trading completely flat on Wednesday morning at 1591.70 as the gains yesterday had no conviction; markets remain without a direction while they begin to speculate about next week’s FOMC meeting decision. Gold rose nearly 1%, after a top European Central Bank official said the euro zone crisis was not over; however prices again came under pressure as redemptions in gold-backed exchange-traded funds continued. Gold holdings of SPDR gold trust declined to 1,236.31 tons

Bundesbank’s chief Jens Weidmann, also a member of the ECB Governing Council, said the German central bank had set aside billions more Euros against what it deemed risky ECB moves. Weidmann is very outspoken and very conservative with a negative outlook so much of thoughts and statements are colored by his overall bias.

The dollar index closed a seesaw session with a marginal loss which allowed precious metals an opportunity to buy gold on dips in the US dollar. The dollar index which tracks greenback against major currencies moved to 82.585.

Gold prices were also supported on expectations of aggressive monetary easing by Japan after the new BOJ governor steps in on March 19. Mr. Kuroda received the support of the parties controlling the legislature this morning assuring his swift and positive approval on Thursday.

April Gold Futures Spike Higher

Bargain hunters helped drive April gold prices higher on Tuesday. The weaker U.S. Dollar also helped underpin the market. Technically, several days of narrow trading and consolidation gave one the feeling that something was up, but the direction wasn’t clear. On one hand we had the downtrend on the daily chart, but we also had a new higher bottom at $1560.40 from March 8 which was indicative of new buying.

Technically, April gold is trading on the bullish side of a retracement zone at $1587.00 to $1579.28. Uptrending support is at $1580.30. Downtrending resistance is at $1599.70. This has created a triangle chart pattern on the daily chart which is indicative of more short-term volatility.

 Short-covering and a weaker U.S. Dollar continued to drive April crude oil prices higher amid bearish supply and demand fundamentals. Technically, crude oil has been moving up at a rate of .50 since reaching a bottom at $89.33 on March 4. The angle it has been straddling during the rise is at $92.33 today. Based on the short-term range of $98.65 to $89.33, the major upside target is $93.99 to $95.09. A downtrending Gann angle at $94.15 could provide additional resistance.

Gold drops after hitting $1,600 overnight

Gold edged down in Asian trade Wednesday after crossing the $1600 mark for a brief period overnight.

Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1593.01 an ounce at 12.00 noon S9ingapore time while US gold was at $1592.22 an ounce on the comex division of nymex.

Analysts said the precious yellow metal is likely to extend gains on remarks by Germany's central bank about the euro zone crisis and the European Central Bank's moves to stem it.

Germany's Bundesbank said the euro zone crisis, which has eased as a result of the ECB's funding promises, was not over,and that it had set aside billions more euros against what it deems risky ECB moves.

Shanghai Futures Exchange To Begin Gold After Hours Trade

As it seeks to win new foreign business, China's largest commodities market, The Shanghai Futures Exchange is looking to launch after hours trading before the end of 2013. The Exchange has 10 trading categories, including gold, silver, copper and aluminum.

The extended trading hours are set to make a big difference for institutional investors trading in precious metals, since they are highly sensitive to international news.

The Exchange is of the opinion that after hours trading could help attract more European and US investors to the market, and would also help market participants hedge or adjust their positions in response to market news during the European and US business day.

For instance, precious metal futures contracts usually react strongly to US nonfarm payroll data. The information comes in around 8.30 pm local time, when the markets are technically closed. Given the after hours trade, investors could cut their holdings in a more timely manner.

The exchange now trades from 9 am to 11.30 am and from 1.30 pm to 3 pm Beijing time. After hours trading refers to the buying and selling of securities on major exchanges outside of specified regular trading hours. 

India's two premium stock exchanges, the Bombay Stock Exchange, which is Asia's oldest bourse, and the National Stock Exchange too decided to advance their trading hours by opening an hour early way back in 2009, to align the timings with those in major Asian markets. Both the exchanges have after hour trades.

In February 2013, the world’s largest exchange company, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing won regulatory approval to start after hours futures trading. The idea was to move into globally traded asset classes. 

The HK Exchange is also considering instituting after hours trading in gold futures at a later date. The Exchange, which carried out a $2.2 billion takeover of the London Metals Exchange in December last year, has noted that its implementation of after hours futures trading is a mandatory step toward moving into trading of foreign exchange and other classes of assets traded on a global basis.

Source : GlodSilver.com

Silver’s Industrial Demand: The Best Is Yet to Come(financialsense)

                                        As the price of silver searches for a bottom, and as many wonder if the precious metals’ bull is over, it is worth re-examining the other source of demand for silver: namely, from industry. This is also important if in fact the world is moving toward some kind of recovery, where you would think the price of silver would catch a bid from industrial users.

In recent years, the rise of the silver price has come almost exclusively from investment, or monetary demand (an important reminder for anyone who claims silver isn’t money, by the way.) But there have been periods of time when silver’s industrial demand drove the price of the white metal higher. In the period between roughly 1900 and 1970, industrial demand for silver increased over 4 times- from 100 million to 400 million ounces. The industrial revolution in silver was due largely to the urbanization and technological revolutions taking place in twentieth century life. Whether we are talking about indoor plumbing, electricity, cars, or aerospace technology, silver proved to be an indispensable metal. One of the largest industrial uses for silver came from photography, invented by Frenchmen Nicephore Niecpe in 1822, and made more popular by Daguerre in the 1840s. By the twentieth century millions of ounces of silver were needed just for photography. But in terms of silver demand, this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Silver to recover faster than Gold from present slump (Bullionstreet)

Silver could come back anytime even though it is in the same sinking boat with gold at the moment, analysts said.

The white metal dropped 0.6 percent in the first week of March and is down 5.8 percent so far this year, which is approximately 42.3% from its high 22 months ago.However, the silver price outlook still remains bright, according to the forecasts of major financial and investment firms.

According to Swiss America Trading Corporation, silver will keep its robust investment rate. A massive demand is expected to lead to an oversold moment. And when that time comes, there will be a great number of investors ready to pour money into the white metal.

Swiss American believes that at the very moment silver is being oversold more than in the past decade. In respect, prices are projected go grow in relation to the supply shortage and rising industrial demand.

Morgan Stanley sees the white metal averaging to $35 per ounce next year. According to its analysts, silver is gold’s cheaper proxy. Therefore Morgan Stanley expects the metal to outperform gold in 2013.

UBS also signaled improvement ahead stating the firm was keeping its three month target for silver at $37 per ounce.

Oil down in Asian trading after modest U.S. gains (Investing.com)

                       Oil futures are trading slightly lower during Tuesday’s Asian session on the heels of modest gains seen in U.S. trade Monday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for April delivery fell 0.12% to USD91.94 per barrel in Asian trading Tuesday after rising slightly in the U.S. on Monday. On Monday, oil traded down by as much as 1.2% following the release of some concerning data points out of China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer.

China's industrial production rose 9.9% in February, below expectations for a 10.5% increase also below a 10.3% hike logged during the previous month.

Consumer prices in China rose by 3.2% in February from a year earlier, above expectations for a 3% increase and accelerating sharply from a 2% rate of increase in January.

Those data points, which fuel speculation the Chinese recovery has not yet reached the pitch market participants have hoped for, combined with news Saudi Arabia increase output last month are seen as weighing on crude prices.

Goldman Sachs added on Monday that U.S. crude supplies could increase in the second and third quarters as more pipeline capacity becomes available.

Elsewhere, the U.S. state of Colorado said its 2012 oil production climbed to 48 million barrels, a 50-year high, due in large part to increased production at the Niobrara Shale. Colorado’s oil production was less than 33 million barrels in 2009.

Some estimates say the Niobrara Shale could be home to more than 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Anadarko Petroleum is among the major producers there.

Meanwhile, Brent crude for May delivery fell 0.01% to USD109.53 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.

Contrary Gold Futures 2 - (www.zealLLC.com)

                            Gold’s technical breakdown suffered in its recent capitulation selloff naturally unleashed a flood of bearish sentiment.  Traders are totally convinced gold’s woes are just starting, that the worst is yet to come.  This pessimistic worldview is largely universal, even among futures traders.  But their collective bets are actually a strong contrarian indicator.  Their bearishness peaks right before major rallies erupt.

Futures speculators are generally considered the most sophisticated of traders.  With futures’ inherent high leverage, margin requirements, limited lifespans, and zero-sum nature, they are far more risky and challenging to trade than stocks.  Thus the average futures trader is much better informed and better capitalized than the average stock trader.  Unforgiving futures trading soon weeds out mediocre traders.

But nevertheless the surviving futures traders are still human.  They struggle with the same dangerous emotions of greed and fear that plague stock traders.  As a herd, futures traders grow too euphoric and greedy after a price has surged too far too fast.  So they flood into longs near highs.  And they get too despondent and fearful after a price has plunged too far too fast.  So they pile into shorts near lows.

And the latter has certainly happened recently thanks to gold’s capitulation.  As an unfortunate chain of news and sentiment fed on itself as analyzed in depth in our latest monthly newsletter, futures traders grewexceptionally bearish.  So they made big bets that gold’s price would keep on falling, which in the futures world means taking the short side of contracts.  And these shorts reached incredible extremes.

US futures trading is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an arm of the US government.  While the CFTC can be a real pain sometimes like all regulators, one good thing it does is publish a weekly report called the Commitments of Traders.  Released late Friday afternoons, it shows what positions several classes of futures traders happened to be holding as of the preceding Tuesday.

Futures are a zero-sum game, every contract has one trader betting a price will move one way against an opposing trader betting that price will move the other way.  So every dollar won in futures is a direct dollar loss from the counterparty on the other side of the contract.  Thus the total number of longs and shorts in any commodity, including gold, are always perfectly equal.  Shorts can’t exist without offsetting longs.

While total gold shorts always equal longs, the CFTC divides futures traders into three different classes.  These are commercial traders, non-commercial traders, and nonreportable traders.  These are generally translated as hedgers directly using a physical underlying commodity for business purposes, large speculators, and small speculators.  The aggregate positions held by each class can vary considerably.

The way it nearly always works in the gold world is commercial hedgers mostly take the short side of gold contracts.  They are dominated by miners locking in future selling prices.  And then speculators, both large and small, take the offsetting long side of these trades.  When the total longs and total shorts for each class are added up, the result is a net-long or net-short position.  This effectively reveals sentiment.

The more net-long the speculators are, the more bullish they are on gold.  They won’t make these risky leveraged bets on this metal unless they are convinced it is likely to continue surging.  This tends to happen near major toppings after big uplegs.  The less net-long speculators are, the more bearish they are on gold.  They won’t bet heavily on gold upside after this metal has long languished in corrections.

This first chart looks at these aggregate class positions in gold futures over time.  The always net-short commercial hedgers’ positions are shown in yellow.  Without them, gold futures trading wouldn’t exist.  The offsetting net-long large and small speculators are rendered in orange and red.  When the gold price is overlaid on these collective positions, it becomes readily apparent they are a strong contrarian indicator.

Even though commercials are always net-short and speculators always net-long during a secular bull, the degree of these bets is very revealing.  As speculators get exceptionally bullish or bearish on gold, their net-long exposure rises and falls accordingly.  And amazingly given futures’ traders well-deserved reputation as sophisticated players, they nearly always make the wrong bets near gold-price extremes!

Oil pulls back in Asia after decent U.S. showing - ( investing.com)

Oil futures declined modestly during Friday’s Asian session after posting a decent gain during Thursday trade in the U.S. as traders await the release of the February non-farm payroll report due out from the U.S. Labor Department later today.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for April delivery fell 0.13% to USD91.44 in Asian trading Friday after gaining 0.75% to settle at USD91.11 a barrel on Thursday in the U.S.

Risk appetite buoyed by rising U.S. equities and a strong data point helped lift crude Thursday before it succumbed to some profit taking in Asian trade Friday.

In U.S. economic news, first time claims for unemployment benefits fell to 340,000 last week from 347,000 in the previous week. Economists expected last week’s reading to rise to 355,000. The reading is close to a five-year low. The less volatile four-week moving average also fell by 7,000 last week to 348,750.

Even with the modest decline seen thus far in the Asian session, West Texas Intermediate futures are poised for their best weekly performance in three weeks.
Elsewhere, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it will increase global oil shipments by 420,000 barrels a day to 23.83 million per day for the four-week stretch ending on March 23. Those figures exclude Angola and Ecuador. Saudi Arabia, the cartel’s biggest producer, is believed to be making up the bulk of the increased shipments.

Oil traders will now focus on the February NFP number due out later today. Economists expect the U.S., the world’s largest economy to show the addition of 160,000 new jobs last month. Analysts believe the February number will be somewhat hindered by fears of government spending cuts.

The U.S. is the world’s largest oil consumer. Elsewhere, Brent futures for April delivery fell 0.08% to USD110.86 per barrel.

Oil Falls to 2013 Low on China, Europe Manufacturing

West Texas Intermediate oil slipped to the lowest level this year as manufacturing expanded less than forecast in China and contracted in Europe, bolstering concern that fuel demand will decline.

Futures fell 1.5 percent after data showed China’s manufacturing growth slowed for a second month while factory output declined in the euro area and the U.K. The factory data helped theU.S. dollar strengthen against the British pound and the euro. A stronger dollar curbs the appeal of raw materials to investors.

“Oil is down because of the disappointing manufacturing index data overnight, especially the Chinese number, which shows the country had the smallest of expansions,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “U.K. manufacturing has plunged into contraction, which is going to hurt demand.”

Crude oil for April delivery fell $1.37 to $90.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since Dec. 24. Prices dropped 2.6 percent this week. The volume of all futures traded was down 1.5 percent from the 100-day average at 3:10 p.m.

Gold Falls on Signs of Economic Recovery: Commodities at Close

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials fell 0.3 percent to settle at 648.21 at 4 p.m. New York time, led by metals.

The UBS Bloomberg CMCI gauge of 26 prices slid 0.2 percent to 1,547.62.

PRECIOUS METALS

Gold fell, capping the longest run of monthly declines in 16 years, as signs of economic optimism curbed demand for the metal as a haven.

Jobless claims in the U.S. dropped in the week that ended Feb. 23, the government said today. German unemployment unexpectedly fell in February amid signs that Europe’s biggest economy is recovering, and Japan’s industrial production in January rose for the second straight month.

On the Comex in New York, gold futures for April delivery dropped 1.1 percent to $1,578.10 an ounce. This month, the metal tumbled 5 percent, the fifth straight decline and the longest slump January 1997.

India introduces 4% excise duty on Silver produced from Zinc

India introduced a 4 percent excise duty on silver manufactured from smelting zinc or lead.

India's Finance minister P. Chidambaram however didn't raise import duty non gold in his budget presentation in the country’s parliament early Thursday.

Chidambaram however introduced a 0.01 percent Commodities Transactions Tax (CTT) for commodity futures in a limited way from next fiscal year.He exempted agri commodities from the CTT.

The Finance Minister also introduced a string of reforms,opening India to wider foreign investment and cutting deficit-ballooning spending and subsidies to avert a damaging credit rating downgrade and boost corporate spending.

India's share market regulator SEBI will simplify procedures for entry of foreign portfolio investors to invest in India.

All public sector banks to have ATM's by the end of this year. A new women's bank to be set up for lending to women's entrepreuners, and allots rs 1000 crores in the budget. The bank is also to have a majority of women employees

India Raises Spending, Taxes the Rich

                          India's finance minister Thursday tried to balance political compulsions with repeated promises of financial discipline, saying he will raise spending but that he will stick to a fiscal roadmap and increase taxes for the rich.

The 16.6 trillion rupee ($307 billion) budget for the fiscal year starting April 1 aims to increase spending by 16%, underscoring the pressure on the government to continue to spend on development plans in the education, health and other social sectors, with an eye on improving its prospects at state elections this year and federal polls in 2014.

P. Chidambaram, while presenting the federal budget in parliament, projected that the country's fiscal deficit will be 4.8% of gross domestic product in the next fiscal year starting April 1, narrower than this year's 5.2% deficit, which betters its own previous projection of 5.3%.

The government hopes to reduce the deficit to 3% by March 2017.

New Delhi is banking on revenue from higher taxes on the rich and corporates and from stake sales in state-run companies and the auction of

Crude Oil and Natural Gas Stronger As US Dollar Eases

Crude oil futures opened marginally higher tracking sharp gains in the Asia equities with investors keying into comments from the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve emphasizing an ongoing commitment to monetary stimulus. Asia stocks climbed Thursday, the last day of the month with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index trading up 0.9%, while the Shanghai Composite Index up 0.4%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 2%, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.1%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index moved up 0.7%.

www.orangecommodities.com

WTI crude oil tumbled Wednesday after stockpiles of crude rose in top consumer the United States, pressuring an already well supplied market. Inventories of crude oil rose by 1.13 million barrels in the week to Feb. 22, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a weekly report. Distillate stocks, including heating oil and diesel, rose 557,000 barrels. Meanwhile, prices drew support from indications the U.S. economy is improving.

The National Association of Realtors said earlier that its pending home sales index rose by 4.5% in January, beating expectations for a 1.5% gain. Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at annualized rate of 10.4% last month, above expectations for an 8.2% increase. Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total

Fed Director Bernanke Sends Gold Skywards

                            Gold’s biggest rally in months edged into day three to trade above the 1615.00 level after being stuck under the resistance level of 1600, when the U.S. Federal Reserve chief defended the stimulus program that has stoked gold buying on inflation worries. Mr. Bernanke’s testimony seemed to indicate that the FOMC would continue its ongoing asset purchase programs, which helped bump gold skywards. Bernanke said that the current programs were not causing inflation or an asset bubble.

                                                         www.orangecommodities.com

This morning gold is giving back a few dollars after the US dollar rebounded late in trading on yesterday on positive eco data and as traders took advantage to the rally to sell and book profits as the month comes to a close. Gold rose 1.3 percent on yesterday, its biggest one-day gain in three months, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s defense of U.S. bond-buying stimulus boosted bullion’s inflation-hedge appeal. The metal broke above $1,600 an ounce, extending its rally to a fourth straight day, after Bernanke said Fed policymakers are cognizant of potential risks from its loose monetary policy, but the risks did not seem material now. In his testimony on the central bank’s semiannual report on monetary policy,