Oil steady near $74

SINGAPORE: Oil was steady near $74 on Thursday as investors turned their attention to upcoming U.S. employment reports, following gains of almost 3 percent a day earlier after positive manufacturing data lifted spirits across markets.

U.S. crude for October delivery CLc1 slipped 8 cents to $73.83 a barrel by 0704 GMT, after a jump of $1.99 on Wednesday. ICE Brent LCOc1 dipped 33 cents to $76.02.

Manufacturing in top oil consumers the United States and China accelerated in August, reports showed on Wednesday, raising hopes record petroleum stockpiles would fall and reviving confidence across markets.

The focus over the next two days was set to turn to lagging U.S. employment indicators, including weekly jobless claims, on Thursday. The nation”s nonfarm payrolls probably fell for a third straight month in August, a survey showed, ahead of a monthly report due on Friday.

“The market was just seeking optimism and this came from strong manufacturing data,” said Serene Lim, a Singapore-based oil analyst at ANZ.

“Some traders started the new month with new positions. It was a buying opportunity, especially for those who were bullish in the long term. However, the market will be in a wait-and-see mode especially before the payrolls report this Friday.”

U.S. private employers unexpectedly cut 10,000 jobs in August, a report by payrolls processor ADP showed on Wednesday.

But markets shrugged off the negative news from the labour market, after Institute for Supply Management data on Wednesday showed U.S. factory activity rose in August for a 13th straight month.

Investors had been expecting the ISM reading to show a decline in manufacturing from July, which would have fit with recent data showing a slowdown in U.S. growth.

Wednesday”s rally in oil prices was earlier triggered by data showing China”s manufacturing industry accelerated in August, expanding for an 18th consecutive month.

Japan”s Nikkei average rose 1.5 percent on Thursday and China”s key stock index rose 1.3 percent, after the U.S. and Chinese manufacturing data eased investor worries about the global economy.

Global stocks posted their biggest percentage gain this summer on Wednesday, in tandem with a broad-based commodities rally.

But oil market fundamentals were not as constructive. U.S. crude stockpiles rose three times as much as expected in the week to Aug. 27, adding 3.4 million barrels, as refineries cut usage rates, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Distillate supplies fell 739,000 barrels, going against forecasts for an increase and snapping 13 straight weeks of gains, while gasoline inventories declined 212,000 barrels, roughly in line with analyst forecasts, the EIA data showed.

EIA statistics showed total U.S. petroleum stockpiles rose last week to a new high of 1.143 billion barrels, up from 1.139 billion the previous week, for the highest inventory levels since at least 1990, when the EIA began tallying weekly stocks data.

“The fundamentals will still weigh down the market,” Lim said. “Cushing inventories are still relatively high.”

The large build in U.S. total crude stockpiles could deepen the contango in crude markets, when front month futures trade at a discount to later months.

The spread between first- and second-month crude oil contracts ended at $1.50, narrowing from $1.60 on Tuesday, which was the widest level since early June. U.S. crude was also trading close to the biggest discount to Brent crude since May.

Tropical Depression Nine in the eastern Atlantic Ocean strengthened into Tropical Storm Gaston late on Wednesday as it continued on a westerly path that could head for the Caribbean.

Gaston was expected to gain force slowly over the next 48 hours and could become a hurricane by Sunday or Monday. Some early computer models showed it tracking into the Caribbean, but it was too early to say if it would enter the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Earl in the western Atlantic was upgraded to a Category Four hurricane again, and was expected to sideswipe the U.S. East Coast from the northern Carolinas, making landfall on Canada”s Atlantic coast on Saturday.

Israel hints Jerusalem compromise in peace talks

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM: Israel’s defence minister said on Wednesday the Jewish state would be willing to hand over parts of Jerusalem in peace talks with the Palestinians to be launched by U.S. President Barack Obama.

A flare-up of violence in the occupied West Bank and a deadlock over Jewish settlements there loom as potential deal-breakers for Obama, who will host Middle East leaders for dinner at the White House in Washington.

Obama brought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas together for face-to-face negotiations after months of U.S.-mediated indirect talks. But

he faces deep skepticism about his chances of success.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s rare comments about the need to partition Jerusalem, which is at the heart of the conflict, could signal a softening of Netanyahu’s long-stated refusal to divide

Pakistan economy to suffer prolonged flood damage

ISLAMABAD: Floods have ravaged Pakistan’s economy, the prime minister said on Wednesday, with massive job losses and soaring inflation expected to hurt a nation whose stability is vital to the U.S. war against militancy.

Briefing the cabinet on the worst floods to hit impoverished Pakistan, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani expressed concerns over food security due to the prolonged damage to agriculture and said the social impact of the disaster was “serious”.

“The floods have inflicted damage to the economy which may, by some estimates, reach $43 billion, while affecting 30 percent of all agricultural land,” he said. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, with cotton the main cash crop, and the sector is one of the biggest sources of employment.

Facing the prospect of long-term economic pain inflicted by the floods, Pakistan hopes the Internation Montery

Pakistan’s next wheat harvest at risk: FAO

MILAN: Pakistan’s next wheat harvest is at risk after floods destroyed more than 0.5 million tonnes of seed stocks in Asia’s third-largest wheat producer, the United Nations’ food agency said on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s worst floods in decades have damaged 3.6 million hectares of standing maize, rice, cotton and sugar cane, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a statement, citing early estimates.

“Unless people get seeds over the next few weeks they will not be able to plant wheat for a year,” Daniele Donati, chief of FAO’s Emergency Operations, Asia, Near East, Europe and Special Emergencies, said.

Wheat, the staple food of the rural poor in Pakistan, is due to be planted in September through to November, and wheat farmers were in the process of preparing land for planting when the floods began, the Rome-based FAO said.

In some areas, the

Dry, hot weather forecast

Staff Report

KARACHI: The Meteorological Department has forecast dry and hot weather for most parts of the country over the next 24 hours, said sources on Saturday.

Rain with lightning is predicted for lower Sindh.

According to Met office, the monsoon spell will halt for the next few days; no rain is expected in flood-hit areas.

On the other hand, the spell is expected to continue in southeast Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan and Kashmir. SAMAA

Punjab Govt starts flood damage survey

Staff Report

LAHORE: The survey of flood damage in Punjab province has been started, SAMAA reported Thursday.

According to the statement issued by the minister, Haji Mohammad Ishaq, the provincial government has issued survey forms. The army and other agencies would verify the flood survey forms.

The government would take measures after completion of the survey. SAMAA

Pakistan expects more rain in the next 24 hours

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Over the next 24 hours, scattered rain is expected in all parts of the country including Islamabad, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, upper Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan, SAMAA reported on Thursday.

According to the Meteorological Department, during the last 24 hours there was scattered rain in pockets of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, north-eastern Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.

The heaviest rain was recorded at 60 millimeters in Larkana.

The Meteorological Department predicted scattered rain in most parts of the country and informed that at the moment it is raining at intervals in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Hazara Division and Kashmir. SAMAA

Oil prices fall below 70 dollars

SINGAPORE: Oil fell below 70 dollars in Asian trade Monday as a weak US jobs report continued to hurt investor sentiment, analysts said.

New York”s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, fell 1.82 dollars to 69.69 dollars a barrel in morning trade.

Brent North Sea crude for July delivery shed 1.46 dollars to 70.63 dollars.

“Oil has continued to plunge this morning, and that is also consistent with Asian equities markets, which are tanking,” said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy.

Major Asian bourses nosedived in early trade Monday, with the Japanese, Australian, South Korean and Hong Kong stock markets all falling after opening.

Prices could well drop below 2010 lows of 67.90 dollars a barrel experienced in May this year over the next few days, said Shum.

“It certainly could fall to that level… right now the sentiment is to sell, and the momentum could make prices drop further,” he said.

Oil and stock markets are being depressed by “disappointing US employment data,” he added. A weak US jobs report released Friday raised questions about the strength of the US economic recovery, souring international investor sentiment.

The US economy created 431,000 non-farm jobs in May — the vast majority due to temporary government hiring for this year”s census. Most experts had expected 500,000 would be added.

Fears of the eurozone”s financial crisis spreading to other countries within the region was also dragging equities and oil markets south, Shum said.

“Both markets are reacting to concerns on the European market of the crisis spreading to other markets,” he said.

Spill threatens Florida”s beaches, and tourism livelihood

MIAMI: The Gulf of Mexico oil spill approached the sandy white beaches of Pensacola Thursday, threatening Florida”s tourist industry just ahead of the prime summer season.

“The phones are not ringing for reservations,” lamented Laura Lee, spokeswoman for Visit Florida in the beachside town, adding that the tourism industry is “very anxious about summer business.”

The area”s crystal clear waters and famously bright beaches are open and not yet impacted by oil, Lee told media, saying “right now we are just taking it day by day.”

Some oil stains have been spotted in the sea about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Pensacola, however, and the spill was expected to come ashore over the next two days, Florida Governor Charlie Crist said this week.

“The shifts, the winds and the currents are projecting weathered oil from the leading edge (which) could impact the Florida Panhandle as early as this week, possible in a day or two,” he said Wednesday.

Having already contaminated the Louisiana coast, the United States” worst environmental catastrophe is now being driven toward Florida by winds blowing from the south and west.

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