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Chinese shares continue their recovery

Chinese shares were looking up in Friday trade Chinese shares extended their recovery on the last day of a volatile week which started with shock losses that spread fear to global markets. The mainland’s benchmark Shanghai Composite was up by 1.1% at 3,123.04 points in early trade. With these gains adding to Thursday’s recovery, investors hope that the panic and sell-off has died down for now. Stocks elsewhere in Asia also continued their rebound, helped by a strong finish for US shares. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was higher by 1.6% at 22,186.30 points. Japan inflation flatlining Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 saw the strongest gains of Asia’s big markets, climbing 2.4% higher to 19,020.56. Morning trade in Tokyo extended Thursday’s recovery on the region’s largest stock market after its sharp losses earlier in the week. Investors were also looking at fresh data showing Japanese inflation fell back […]

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U.S. second-quarter GDP growth rate revised up to 3.7 percent

People are seen walking through Roosevelt Field shopping mall in Garden City, New York February 22, 2015. The U.S. homeland security chief said on Sunday he takes seriously an apparent threat by Somali-based Islamist militants against prominent shopping sites in the West… Aug 27 The U.S. economy grew faster than initially thought in the second quarter on solid domestic demand, showing fairly strong momentum that could still allow the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates this year. Gross domestic product expanded at a 3.7 percent annual pace instead of the 2.3 percent rate reported last month, the Commerce Department said on Thursday in its second GDP estimate. The GDP report, which was released in the wake of a global stock market sell-off, should offer assurance to both investors and cautious Fed officials that the United States was in good shape to weather the growing strains in the world economy. […]

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Excluding a Slump in Oil Investments, the U.S. Economy Grew the Most in Nine Years

A gas flare burns at an oil well site near Sidney, Montana, U.S. Photographer: Daniel Acker The U.S. clocked its fastest rate of economic growth in nine years. Well, at least if you strip out the effects of a battered energy sector. Oil and exploration companies this year have cut back on investment in response to a plunge in crude prices that gathered steam as 2014 drew to a close. If it weren’t for such a dramatic reversal in demand for drilling rigs and wells, the economy would have posted its strongest pace of growth since the start of 2006. Gross domestic product, which includes what consumers, companies and governments spend and invest, increased at a 4.5 percent annualized rate in the second quarter when outlays for exploration, shafts and wells are excluded. Corporate investment in oil and mining structures retreated at a whopping 68 percent annualized rate from […]

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Here’s One Thing Standing Between You and Even Cheaper Gasoline

Oil has lost a third of its value in two months, bringing U.S. drivers within pennies’ reach of $2.50 gasoline. But there’s at least one thing standing in the way of a steeper decline at the pumps: ethanol. While the crude rout dragged gasoline futures down about 60 cents a gallon, ethanol’s dropped a mere 15 cents — making it costlier than gasoline this week for the first time since January. Ethanol’s one thing that’ll keep gasoline prices from a total free fall. The biofuel’s value is being propped up by concern over yields for this year’s corn crop, its main feedstock. Meanwhile, refiners are required to blend the additive into gasoline to comply with the federal regulations. “Because they’re forced to blend, they’re blending a more expensive product,” Chris Knittel, professor of energy economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, said by phone. “A large fraction […]

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Washington governor calls wildfires ‘slow-motion disaster’

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson CHELAN, Wash. (AP) — Rising temperatures and increased winds Thursday could cause the largest wildfire in Washington state history to grow even bigger. The National Weather Service issued a red-flag warning for the Okanogan Complex of fires, saying the weather conditions had the potential to spread the flames Thursday afternoon. "The heat coming back on us early is going to be a problem," said Rick Isaacson, spokesman for the fire that grew to 450 square miles on Thursday. The blazes killed three firefighters last week, and have burned at least 40 homes and 40 outbuildings. Heavy smoke that had grounded aircraft this week lifted a bit Thursday morning and helicopters were able to drop water on the flames, Isaacson said. Aircraft were expected to drop retardant in the afternoon. More than 1,150 square miles of Washington are on fire, nearly the size of Rhode Island, the […]

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Canada’s oil diversity may be paying off

Canadian oil export data suggests healthy balance in an era of low crude oil prices. Photo by Heather Snow/Shutterstock CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 27 (UPI) — Canadian crude oil exports in the depressed energy market were down for conventional oil but up for heavier oil sands, national data show. The National Energy Board reported exports of lighter conventional crude oil down 25 percent from January to 772,000 barrels per day in June. Compared with June 2014, total light crude oil exports are down 10 percent. For the heavier oil sands , however, NEB data show a 6 percent increase from January to 2.2 million bpd in June and up 13.5 percent year-on-year. In July, NEB released its report on full-year 2014 production. Though crude oil prices fell roughly 50 percent from June 2014 to year’s end, the NEB said the energy sector was resilient and export revenue of $100 billion […]

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EIA: U.S. oil swaps make sense regionally

Crude oil swaps with Mexico makes sense for regional refiners, U.S. Energy Information Administration reports. UPI/Shutterstock/tcly WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) — The U.S. crude oil swap agreement with Mexico makes sense for regional refiners looking to bridge the gap between oil grades, the U.S. government said. The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security this month granted a request from Mexican energy company Petroleos Mexicanos, known also as Pemex, to swap as much as 100,000 barrels of U.S. crude oil per day for refining into the nation. The deal requires Mexico to refine the crude oil at home and forbids re-export to other nations. The U.S. Energy Information Administration noted the deal makes sense for North American refiners. U.S. refineries situated along the Gulf Coast are designed to process a heavier grade of crude, like that found in Mexico, while Mexican refiners are geared toward lighter oils, like […]

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Sanctions Bite Massive Gas Project in Russian Arctic

SABETTA, Russia—A $27 billion energy project is rising rapidly on this icy peninsula jutting above the Arctic Circle, but the race to shore up its finances has emerged as a test of Moscow’s ability to weather Western sanctions. U.S. restrictions on OAO Novatek , NVTK 7.32 % the project’s Russian leader, are squeezing the massive Yamal LNG liquefied-natural-gas venture, a centerpiece of President Vladimir Putin ’s plan for Russia to reduce its heavy dependence on natural-gas customers in Europe by increasing exports to Asia and, in turn, cementing Russian ties with China. Barred by the sanctions from raising long-term dollar loans, Novatek and its foreign partners, Total SA TOT 6.12 % of France and China National Petroleum Corp., are having to seek more money from Chinese lenders than they had intended, in addition to kicking in nearly $10 billion of their own, according to company executives. But they have, […]

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US middle distillate demand, exports seen to slow on globally oversupplied market

Outlook for US middle distillate demand, which has grown slightly amid rising exports so far in 2015, will look bearish as the Brent/WTI spread narrows in a globally oversupplied market, speakers at Benposium East 2015 said in New York Thursday. Robust refining margins and lackluster demand growth in the first half of the year has led to the record-breaking stocks of ULSD in New York Harbor, Ed Morse, head of global commodity research at Citigroup Global Markets, said. Suzanne Minter, manager of energy analysis at Bentek Energy, said refined US product stocks have consistently been higher throughout 2015 than in previous years, and while demand is still increasing, it has not kept pace. "ULSD was supposed to be the barrel that refiners wanted to make, but these margins aren’t getting the uplift," Minter said. Article continues below… US Marketscan provides you with a daily market overview of the major […]

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White House Says Keystone XL Pipeline Review Continues

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Aug 27 (Reuters) – The White House said on Thursday that the U.S. State Department continues to review TransCanada Corp’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada’s oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries. "This project continues to be under review by the State Department. I’m not aware of any decision that the State Department has forwarded on to the White House," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, adding that he did not have an update on when the review would be completed. Asked about a report in a Canadian newspaper that said President Barack Obama would deny a permit for the pipeline next week before the Labor Day holiday weekend, Earnest said he had not seen the report. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Emily Stephenson)

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