NYMEX December crude carries overnight gains into Asia trade

               Crude oil prices held onto overnight gains in early Asia trade on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Nominee Janet Yellen told lawmakers that monetary stimulus tools shouldn't be removed too soon in order to ensure recovery doesn't falter.

Stimulus tools such as the Fed's USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases weaken the greenback by driving down interest rates to spur recovery, making oil an attractive buy on dollar-denominated exchanges.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD94.04, up 0.29%, in a range of 93.83 - 94.09.

The commodity hit a session low of USD92.53 and a high of USD94.42. The December contract settled up 0.90% at USD93.88 a barrel on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported earlier that crude oil inventories last week rose by 2.6 million barrels, far more than the 994,000 barrels predicted by analysts.

Despite the bearish supply report, oil rose on expectations for ongoing monetary support, likely on increased refinery capacity and drawdowns of heating oil and gasoline stocks. -  investing.com

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Gold prices ease in Asian trade, give back overnight gains

                    Gold prices eased slightly in Asia on Friday, with investors taking gains from an overnight jump on expectations of continued easy monetary policy in the United States.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,285.90 a troy ounce, down 0.03%, and trading in a range of 1,285.40 - 1,288.00.

Overnight, gold prices hit a session low of USD1,273.30 a troy ounce and high of USD1,293.60 a troy ounce after Federal Reserve Chair Nominee Janet Yellen said that monetary stimulus tools should stay in place as needed to ensure a more robust recovery.

Weaker annualized GDP growth in Japan reported in the third quarter is expected to keep the Bank of Japan in its aggressive easing mode, while Yellen's comments overnight indicated the start of a taper for the Fed's USD85 billion a month bond-buying program may not come in December as some investors expected after solid jobs data last week.

"We have made good progress, but we have farther to go to regain the ground lost in the crisis and the recession," Yellen told a congressional committee vetting her nomination.

"Unemployment is down from a peak of 10 percent, but at 7.3 percent in October, it is still too high, reflecting a labor market and economy performing far short of their potential. At the same time, inflation has been running below the Federal Reserve's goal of 2 percent and is expected to continue to do so for some time."

Her comments weakened the dollar, which also came under pressure amid sentiments that even when the Fed begins to taper the pace of its monthly asset purchases be it in December or in early 2014, monetary tightening is still a long way away.

Elsewhere in the U.S., the Labor Department reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week declined by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000.

Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to fall by 11,000, which also softened the dollar.

A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened to USD41.8 billion in September from a deficit of USD38.7 billion in August.  Analysts were expecting an USD39.0 billion deficit.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery traded at 20.733 a troy ounce, up 0.05%. - investing.com

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Natural gas edges off earlier lows as supplies meet forecasts

                    Natural gas prices rose from earlier lows on Thursday after official data revealed that U.S. inventories rose in line with expectations, though forecasts for a break in a cold snap allowed for profit taking that pushed the commodity in negative territory.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in December traded at USD3.565 per million British thermal units dur

ing U.S. trading, down 0.04%. 

The commodity hit a session low of USD3.492 and a high of USD3.567.

The December contract settled down 1.41% at USD3.566 per million British thermal units on Wednesday.

Futures were likely to find support at USD3.381 per million British thermal units, the low from Nov. 5, and resistance at USD3.659, Wednesday's high.

Updated weather forecasts continued to call for below-normal temperatures over the next few days, though a warming trend will appear for parts of the country before a fresh blast of arctic air heads south later in November, according to www.NatGasWeather.com. 

Updated model runs predicted cold air to return to the northern reaches of the country, though it won't dip as far south as once expected, which watered down demand for natural gas.

Midler temperatures dampen the need for heating this time of year, cutting into demand for natural gas at the nation's thermal power generators.

Elsewhere, supply data offset the bearish weather forecasts, pushing prices in and out of positive territory.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended Nov. 8 rose by 20 billion cubic feet, in line with expectations for an increase of 21 billion cubic feet.

Inventories rose by 12 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a build of 19 billion cubic feet.

Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.834 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 80 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 58 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 3.776 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.

The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 93 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, following net injections of 10 billion cubic feet. 

Stocks in the Producing Region were 112 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 1.185 billion cubic feet after a net injection of 12 billion cubic feet.

Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in December were down 0.09% and trading at USD93.80 a barrel, while heating oil for December delivery were up 1.57% and trading at USD2.9432 per gallon. - investing.com

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