Oil Holds After 8th Weekly Advance as Drill Rig Count Declines

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Oil held gains after rising for an eighth week as U.S. drillers reduced the number of active rigs to the fewest in more than four years.

Futures were little changed in New York after capping a 0.4 percent gain on Friday, the longest run of weekly increases since February 2013. The rig count declined by 11 to 668, the lowest level since September 2010, according to Baker Hughes Inc. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which meets in June, is unlikely to cut its output quota, according to Mohsen Ghamsari, head of international affairs at state-run National Iranian Oil Co.

Oil has rebounded from a six-year low in March amid signs a reduction in drilling is leading to a slowdown in output from U.S. shale producers. The rally may still falter as the nation’s stockpiles remain more than 100 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of year.

West Texas Intermediate for June delivery was at $59.26 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 13 cents at 9:04 a.m. Sydney time. The contract rose 45 cents to $59.39 on Friday. The volume of all futures traded was about 77 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for June settlement was 8 cents lower at $65.31 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It fell 15 cents to $65.39 a barrel on Friday. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $6.12 to WTI.

Source : Bloomberg

Dollar Bulls Dealt Setback as Job Gains Fail to Lift Fed Outlook

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Dollar bulls are taking little comfort in the budding recovery in the U.S. employment market.

The U.S. currency fell against most of its major peers after the Labor Department said payrolls rebounded in April following an even bigger setback a month earlier than previously estimated.
That’s pushed out trader expectations for when the Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates, which up until the middle of April had underpinned a nine-month rally in the greenback.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against 10 major peers, fell 0.1 percent to 1,164.21 as of 4 p.m. in New York. It has gained 16 percent in the past year.

The euro fell 0.6 percent to $1.1199, leaving it unchanged this week. The dollar was little changed at 119.76 yen.

Source : Bloomberg

Asian Stocks Climb Second Day After China Rate Cut, U.S. Jobs

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Asian stocks rose for a second day after China cut interest rates for the third time in six months and U.S. shares jumped following an official jobs report.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.6 percent to 152 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo. China is bolstering stimulus amid subdued inflation and a weak trade profile, signs Asia’s largest economy may struggle to reach its annual growth target of about 7 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 1.4 percent Friday after a rebound in U.S. hiring last month bolstered optimism that the economy is recovering, but not fast enough to warrant raising interest rates in June.

Japan’s Topix index rose 1.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.9 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.4 percent, as did New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index. Markets in China and Hong Kong have yet to open.

Source : Bloomberg

Japan Stocks Rise Second Day Following China Rate Cut, U.S. Jobs

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Japanese stocks rose for a second day after China’s central bank cut interest rates for the third time in six months and following a rebound in U.S. hiring.

Toshiba Corp. is set to plunge after the company on Friday withdrew its earnings forecast for last year and said it won’t pay a year-end dividend after finding improper accounting on infrastructure projects.

The Topix index climbed 1.2 percent to 1,607.41 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, with all of its 33 industry groups rising. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.2 percent to 19,618.72.

Source : Bloomberg

Saham AS Ditutup Naik Pasca Rilis Data Pekerjaan; Pound Catat Gain

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Saham AS ditutup naik tajam dalam hampir dua bulan terakhir dan Treasuri naik karena reboundnya pada data payroll mendorong optimisme pertumbuhan ekonomi, tetapi tidak cukup untuk menjamin kenaikan suku bunga pada bulan Juni.

Indeks Standard & Poor 500 naik 1,3% pada 4 sore di New York, untuk dalam 0,1% dari rekor. Imbal hasil obligasi dengan tenor 10-tahun turun empat basis poin menjadi 2,14%, memangkas kenaikan mingguan. Indeks Spot Dollar Bloomberg tergelincir 0,1%. Saham Eropa melonjak tajam di tahun ini, sementara sterling naik 1,3% menjadi $ 1,544.

Sementara payroll rebound pada bulan April dan tingkat pengangguran turun ke level terendah sejak Mei 2008. Sementara berdasarkan Indeks berjangka menunjukkan Federal Reserve tetap berada di jalur untuk menaikkan suku tahun ini.

Sementara pengusaha AS menambahkan sebanyak 223.000 pekerja untuk nonfarm payrolls pada bulan April, setelah kenaikan sebesar 85.000 di bulan Maret merupakan yang terkecil sejak Juni 2012. Tingkat pengangguran turun menjadi 5,4% dari 5,5%, yang terendah sejak Mei 2008. rata penghasilan per jam naik kurang dari perkiraan.(yds)

Sumber: Bloomberg