Crude oil fell, capping the first weekly decline in one month, after the strongest earthquake on record in Japan closed refineries and dissidents in Saudi Arabia can not stage protests planned.
The 8.9-magnitude temblor off a 7-meter (23 feet) tsunami that hundreds of people slain in Japan, the world’s third largest oil consuming nation. Saudi Arabian police and anti-riot vehicles patrolling central Riyadh today, preventing a “Day of Rage” called by activists.
“This is a response to the tsunami and the lack of the Day of Rage in Saudi Arabia,” said Hamza Khan, an analyst at the Schork Group Inc., a consulting firm in Villanova, Pennsylvania. “If the Japanese refineries are down, we go to a lower demand for crude oil to see.”
In other markets, grains were behind Japan, a major importer of American crops affected by the earthquake, threatens to reduce demand. Cocoa also dropped. The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index fell 0.7 percent to 1723.48, this week, the gauge fell 3.9 percent, the most since May The measure was the fifth consecutive day, the longest recession since August.
Oil futures for April delivery tumbled $ 1.54, or 1.5 percent, to $ 101.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since March 1. The price fell by 3.1 percent this week.
Futures still have gained 21 percent since Oct. 1. A civil war in Libya, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Countries, and unrest in North Africa and the Middle East roiled markets. President Barack Obama said today that he is willing to oil the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve if supplies tighten and fuel costs jump release.
Maize, wheat
Corn futures for May delivery fell 18.5 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $ 6.6425 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Earlier, the price hit $ 6.5275, the lowest for a most active contract since Jan. 31.
Japan, the largest buyer of American corn, the grain depots, ports and check for damage after a tsunami engulfed the cities on the northern coast, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. Farmland was flooded with burning debris in some areas as the waves swept inland, state broadcaster NHK showed images.
The earthquake ‘likely impact grain “from the ports in Kushiro, Hachinohe, Ishinomaki and Kashima were affected by the tsunami, and some feed mills and farms were hurt, the U.S. Grains Council said.
‘Economic shock’
“There is no way to even assess the direct damage to the economy of Japan, or the global economy,” Carl B. Weinberg, chief economist at Valhalla, New York-based High Frequency Economics Ltd., said in a note to clients . “Experience shows us that the economic shock, and probably will be far greater than anyone can imagine.”
Japan is the second largest recipient of U.S. wheat and rice and the third for soybeans, government data show. Last month, grain prices rose to the highest since 2008 as rising demand and poor weather cut stocks.
Wheat futures for May delivery dropped 21.75 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $ 7.1875 per bushel. Earlier, the price hit $ 7.0375, its lowest level since December 1. This week, the corn plunged by 14 percent, the most since December 2008.
Soybean futures for May delivery fell 21 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $ 13,345 per bushel. This week, prices fell by 5.6 percent, the most since October.
Rice futures for May delivery fell 4 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $ 13.01 per 100 pounds. Earlier, the price touched $ 12.48, its lowest level since October 6. This week, the raw materials tumbled 8.3 percent, the most since January 2009.
Cocoa
Cocoa fell, capping the biggest weekly drop since May, on speculation that supplies from the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest exporter, will increase after the government threatened to seize undeclared stocks.
Ivorian exporters have until March 31 to bean ship’s stores or face “sanctions”, a spokesman for President Laurent Gbagbo said on March 9. Gbagbo has refused to resign following a November election that international observers say was won by Alassane Ouattara, who has asked shippers to stop exports to deny funds to its rival.
“The market is realizing there is a lot of supply, because the situation in Côte d’Ivoire forcing suppliers to export to the domestic tax to pay,” said Jonathan Bouchet, an analyst at OTCex Group, a broker in Geneva.
Cocoa for May delivery fell $ 33, or 1 percent, to $ 3.412 a metric ton on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Prices fell 6.7 percent this week, the most since May 14
Commodities as follows:
Precious metals: April gold up $ 9.30 $ 1,421.80 an ounce of silver in May to 86.9 cents to $ 35,935 per platinum ounce in April to $ 16.10 to $ 1,781.70 an ounce of palladium June 90 cents to $ 765.50 an ounce
Livestock: June live cattle remained unchanged at $ 1.1695 per pound in August feeder cattle up 0.35 cents to $ 1.37625 per pound in June lean hogs down 1.95 cents to 99.5 cents per pound
Grains: May soybeans down 21 cents to $ 13,345 per bushel corn in May down 18.5 cents to $ 6.6425 per bushel in May wheat down 21.75 cents to $ 7.1875 a bushel of rice in May fell by 4 cents to $ 13.01 per 100 pounds in May oats dropped 5.5 cents to $ 3.505 per bushel
Food and fiber: May coffee down 6.15 cents to $ 2.744 per pound in May cocoa down $ 33-3412 dollars a metric ton in May cotton to 3.96 cent to $ 2.0494 a pound of sugar in May to 0.15 cents to 28.86 cents a pound in May orange juice down 2.3 cents $ 1.6795 one pound
Energy: April crude oil down $ 1.54 to $ 101.16 a barrel April natural gas up 5.9 cents to $ 3.889 per million British thermal units April heating oil down 1.59 cents to $ 3.029 per gallon of gasoline in April 3.19 cents to $ 2.9877 per gallon
Others: May copper up 1 cent to $ 4.2075 per pound timber in May from $ 2 to $ 311.10 per 1,000 board feet
source:bloomberg
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