DJI- NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday, with Apple's surge giving the Nasdaq its biggest gain of the year, while the Fed chairman reassured markets that the central bank would do more if necessary to lift the economy.
Apple Inc fueled optimism that the current earnings season would be much stronger than expected, generating gains across all market sectors. The iPad and iPhone maker's results, released after Tuesday's closing bell, showed that its quarterly
profits nearly doubled, while its revenue easily topped expectations. The rally in Apple's stock especially benefited the S&P 500 tech sector index <.GSPT>, which jumped 3.2 percent. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spurred further gains when he said the U.S. central bank "would not hesitate" to launch another round of bond purchases to drive borrowing costs lower if it looked like the economy needed it. [ID:nL2E8FOJAC]
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> shot up 89.16 points, or 0.69 percent, to 13,090.72 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 18.72 points, or 1.36 percent, to 1,390.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> jumped 68.03 points, or 2.30 percent, to 3,029.63, and scored its best daily percentage gain since Dec. 20.
During the regular session, Bernanke's comments came as a welcome surprise to some stock investors.
"People looked at the FOMC statement and saw no mention of QE3, but in his press conference, Bernanke made it quite clear that additional asset purchases remain completely on the table. That may have been a revelation to some of the earlier sellers," said William O'Donnell, managing director and head of U.S. Treasury strategy at RBS Securities in Stamford, Connecticut.
NYMEX- NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rose on Wednesday after a tug-of-war session, receiving a late lift from Wall Street's rally, the Federal Reserve reiterating its low interest rate policy, and falling refined products stocks that offset rising crude inventories.
Oil futures received pressure intraday from Energy Information Administration data showing U.S. crude stocks rose 3.98 million barrels last week, more than expected and counter to an industry report on Tuesday that showing an inventory drop.[EIA/S] [API/S]
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, June crude rose 57 cents, or 0.55 percent, to settle at $104.12 a barrel, having traded from $103.11 to $104.57.
* Four cargoes of North Sea Forties crude loading in May have been delayed after production problems at Britain's largest oilfield, trade sources said. Nexen said its 200,000-barrel per day Buzzard field, shut down after a problem with a gas compressor on its newest platform over the weekend was restarting after repairs. [ID:nL6E8FP2ON]
* Russia will continue its abundant Urals crude exports in May, a preliminary export schedule showed. [ID:nL6E8FP2HX]
* Production at Iraq's West Qurna Phase-2 oilfield was expected to hit 500,000 bpd in 2014, Iraq's oil minister said as drilling of the first oil well began. [ID:nL6E8FP39J]
* Goldman Sachs maintained its near-term neutral recommendation on the commodities complex as a whole on renewed euro zone debt concerns and a modest slowing in U.S. growth, despite signs of China beginning to pick up after a policy induced slowdown late last year. [ID:nL3E8FP3KA]
* Demand U.S. durable manufactured goods tumbled by the most in three years in March and businesses cut back on spending plans. [ID:nL2E8FP2GL]
CBOT SOYBEAN- Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on concerns about the size of South America's soy harvest and positioning ahead of a three-day U.S. holiday weekend, traders said.
* U.S. grain markets will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday.
* Strong weekly U.S. export sales added support. USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 1,112,900 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), above a range of trade estimates for 600,000 to 850,000 tonnes. [ID:nEAP10A504]
* Front-month soybeans reached $14.34-1/4, matching Tuesday's seven-month high on the continuous chart. Soybeans unofficially ended the week up 2.08 percent, the second straight weekly rise.
* Nearby soybean contracts gained against back months as traders appeared to unwind long November/short May and long November/short July spreads.
* The USDA's attache in Brazil projected the country's 2011/12 soybean harvest at 66 million tonnes, down from USDA's last forecast of 68.5 million. Attache reports are not official data but can signal what USDA might do in its next official monthly report, due out next week. [ID:nL2E8F49YR]
* Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect USDA in its April 10 supply/demand reports to lower its forecast of U.S. 2011/12 soybean ending stocks, as well as its estimates of the 2011/12 soy harvests in Brazil and Argentina. [ID:nL2E8F4A2E]
* Tugboats in Argentina's main grains export route dislodged a boat carrying soymeal that ran aground three days ago, delaying at least 85 ships, a shipping industry group said. [ID:nL2E8F54ST]
FCPO- SINGAPORE, April 25 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher on Wednesday, as buying interest poured in after the midday break on bullish factors including recovering exports and tight soybean supply.
Another sign of improving demand is the smaller fall of three percent in Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 25 days of the month, versus a decline of 5 percent for the period April 1-20. [PALM/ITS]
Tight soybean supply in drought-hit South America remains a key bullish factor for palm oil. On Tuesday, Hamburg-based oilseeds analyst Oil World has again cut its forecast for Argentina's 2012 soybean crop, this time by 1.5 million tonnes. [ID:nL5E8FN7X0]
"The market ends higher on its failure to crack support levels and there is a lack of producers selling," a trader with a domestic commodities brokerage in Malaysia said. "There is also anticipation of stronger soybean and beanoil prices in the CBOT on the Argentine weather and Chinese demand."
Benchmark July palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 1.4 percent at 3,511 ringgit ($1,148) per tonne.
Traded volumes stood at 22,353 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly lower than the usual 25,000 lots.
Traders attributed the improvement in Malaysian palm oil exports to higher demand from major buyers such as India and China. Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a similar 2 percent decline in palm oil exports for April 1-25 from a month ago. [PALM/SGS]
Despite the slight recovery in exports, some traders said shipments for April were still likely to be lower than a month ago.
"April 1-25 exports are still down by 3 percent, so in the next five days how much more can be shipped (to reverse the trend)? Really not much," said a trader at a commodities house in Singapore.
REGIONAL EQUITY-BANGKOK, April 25 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets posted modest gains on Wednesday as investors selectively bought beaten-down blue chips late in the session but markets remained cautious ahead of results from a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The Philippine index <.PSI> edged up 0.7 percent, climbing at one point to an intraday record high of 5,226.54.
Thailand's benchmark SET index <.SETI> ended up 0.13 percent, with gains limited by thin trading volume. It hit a three-week high of 1,204.73 in early trade.
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