TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures extended gains
on Thursday, gaining support from a rise in Wall Street stocks
after President Barack Obama's call for lower corporate taxes
spurred hopes for higher profits and stronger energy demand.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for March delivery <CLc1> was up 23 cents at
$87.56 a barrel by 0003 GMT, after settling up $1.14 at $87.33 a
day earlier.
* The market also got a boost after U.S. Federal Reserve
policymakers, at the end of a two-day meeting, said they would
press on with a plan to buy $600 billion in government debt to
further stimulate the economy.
* U.S. crude stocks rose 4.84 million barrels last week,
according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's report,
exceeding the consensus forecast. []
U.S. gasoline stocks rose 2.4 million barrels, more than
expected, and distillate stocks fell 140,000 barrels, a smaller
draw than expected drop, the EIA figures showed.
* Hovensa LLC said it planned to mothball 150,000 barrels per
day of capacity at its St. Croix refinery in the U.S. Virgin
Islands as it closes older, less efficient units by the end of
the first quarter. []
* Sinclair Oil Corp reported reduced operating rates at its
74,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Sinclair, Wyoming, after a fire
at the electrostatic precipitator on the gasoline-making fluid
catalytic cracking unit. []
MARKETS NEWS
* The S&P 500 closed at a 29-month high on Wednesday, led by
gains in tech and commodity shares, as investors largely ignored
the U.S. Federal Reserve's lukewarm economic assessment.
* The dollar slipped on Wednesday, with weakness expected to
continue the rest of the week after the Federal Reserve kept
interest rates low and gave a tepid assessment of the U.S.
economy that ensured its Treasury bond-buying programme will
remain in place until June. []
DATA/EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Thursday:
- 2000 N.Zealand Central Bank Interest Rate <NZINTR=ECI>
- 2350 Japan Exports yy Dec 2010 <JPEXPY=ECI>
- 1000 EZ Business climate Jan 2011 <EUBUSC=ECI>
- 1000 EZ Economic sentiment Jan 2011 <EUECOS=ECI>
- 2330 Japan CPI, core nationwide yy Dec 2010 <JPCPI=ECI>
- 1330 U.S. Durable Goods Dec
- 1330 U.S. Initial Claims Jan. 22
- 1500 U.S. Pending Home Sales Dec
- n/a U.S. Microsoft Q2
RELATED NEWS
> Japan Dec crude oil import volume down 1.7 pct []
PRICES
Oil prices as of 0003 GMT
Contract Mnth Price Change Day ago pct MA-20*
NYMEX Contracts
US Crude MAR1 $87.56 +0.23 +$1.14 +1.32% $89.84
Heat Oil FEB1 267.06 +0.08 +7.69 +2.97% 258.23
RBOB FEB1 243.25 +0.19 +8.79 +3.75% 243.71
Natgas FEB1 $4.472 -0.019 +$0.018 +0.40% $4.497
ICE Contracts
Brent MAR1 -- +0.00 +$2.66 +2.79% $96.07
Gasoil FEB1 -- +0.00 +$11.00 +1.38% $793.56
Note: U.S. heating oil and RBOB gasoline contracts listed in
cents per gallon.
* = 20-day moving average for continuation month.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
