Crude Oil slightly higher on Middle East issues

         Crude Oil futures traded modestly higher in the early part of Friday’s Asian even as talks between the U.S. and Russia regarding the situation in Syria advanced. 

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for October delivery inched up 0.02% to USD18.62 per barrel in Asian trading Friday. The October contract settled up 0.97% at USD108.60 per barrel on Thursday. 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva later to discuss terms for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.

Oil rose on concerns talks may hit snags and hike the chances of U.S.-led limited military strikes against Syria, which energy investors fear would engulf the broader oil-rich Middle East and threaten global supply.

However, OPEC member Libya has again the Middle East oil scenario because of dwindling supply. Libya has had supply issues for more than two years due to geopolitical strife and domestic attacks on oil assets. 

Now, ongoing labor strife is hindering Libyan output. In early September, Libya's output fell to just 150,000 barrels per day, though it has the capacity to produce 1.6 million barrels per day. Exports fell to 80,000 barrels per day, according to National Public Radio. 

Before the Arab Spring in early 2011, Libya was producing over 1 million barrels per day. The country is home to Africa’s largest oil reserves. 

The International Energy Agency added that oil supplies from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries fell by 260,000 barrels to 30.51 million barrels per day in August, due to declining output from Libya. 

Elsewhere, Brent crude futures for October delivery fell 0.05% to USD111.75 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange. - investing.com

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Gold lower as tapering talk escalates

                         Gold futures traded slightly lower in the early part of Friday’s Asian session, extending losses from Thursday’s U.S. session, as traders dealt with lingering fears of Federal Reserve tapering. 

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery fell 0.24% to USD1,327.40 per troy ounce in Asian trading Friday. The December contract settled lower by 2.43% at USD1,330.60 per ounce on Thursday. 

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,315.40 a troy ounce, the low from Aug. 14, and resistance at USD1,416.30, Tuesday's high.

The Federal Reserve kicks-off a two-day meeting on September 17 and with fears of a U.S. military strike against Syria waning, traders appear to be betting that the Fed will move forward with plans to taper its USD85 billion-per-month bond-buying program. Expectations are in place that the U.S. central bank will trim its monthly purchases by USD10 billion. 

Monetary stimulus programs such as Fed asset purchases weaken the dollar to spur recovery, which makes gold an attractive hedge. 

Some decent jobs data seemed to affirm the notion that tapering is imminent. In U.S. economic news out Thursday, initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 31,000 to 292,000 last week. Economists expected a reading of 330,000 claims. The less volatile four-week moving average fell to 321,250 from 328,750. That is the lowest reading since October 2007. 

Elsewhere, Comex silver for December delivery fell 0.72% to USD21.990 per ounce while copper for December delivery rose 0.13% to USD3.210 per ounce. - investing.com

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