mines prices markets

Oil rises above $114 falls towards $112 on storm threat, stimulus hopes

he euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 index was down about 0.1 percent after the Ifo data at 2,431.10 points, although volumes were thin as the British market, Europe's largest, was shut for a public holiday.
The main German stock index was little changed, recovering some of its earlier losses, as some of the Ifo institute's findings were not as bad as many feared.

The euro also rose to $1.2530 after the Ifo survey was released, up 0.15 percent on the day, but was holding below a peak of $1.2590 set last Thursday.

Analysts said the weaker outlook in Europe's biggest economy could also support political efforts to find a solution to the region's fiscal crisis, in part by supporting arguments made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
"The declining growth rate in Germany shows that the country is not immune from the general slowdown in Europe and outside Europe," said BNP Paribas economist Dominique Barbet.
"This could help Merkel and Draghi convince German people that more efforts to support the euro zone are necessary and are in the interest of Germany."

 Crude oil futures reversed earlier gains to fall towards $112 a barrel on concerns that a tropical storm would shut U.S. refineries and as western governments mulled the release of strategic reserves to calm oil prices.
Tropical Storm Isaac swirled into the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and began approaching the Louisiana refining hub, prompting U.S. energy companies to start shutting refineries and raising prospects for a jump in crude oil stocks.
Brent crude futures were down by $1.59 at $112 a barrel by 1359 GMT after earlier falling more than $2.
U.S. crude was down by $1.35 at $94.80.

"With refineries shutting down along the U.S. Gulf Coast, traders are weighing this up and seeing there may be a glut of crude oil in the market," Carl Larry, analyst at OilOutlooks in New York said.
"Isaac is also adding to talk of a possible release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, so traders are cautious at these levels after a 2-month long rally," he added.

Marathon Petroleum Corp said on Monday it was initiating the shutdown of its 490,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery in Garyville, Louisiana.

In another indication that regional crude stocks could rise, a fire burned for a third day at Venezuela's biggest refinery on Monday, raising doubts about a speedy restart to operations.
Oil prices have risen nearly 30 percent since June with international sanctions hitting Iranian exports and maintenance affecting North Sea oil flows.

Reuters reported that the White House was "dusting off" old plans for a possible release on fears that rising oil prices could undermine the effect of sanctions on Iran.

Brent crude futures were up $1.04 at $114.63 a barrel by 1022 GMT. U.S. crude was up $1.0 at $97.20.
Tropical Storm Isaac swirled into the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and meteorologists at Weather Insight, an arm of Thomson Reuters, predict the storm will spur short-term shutdowns of 85 percent of the U.S. offshore oil production capacity.

"The storm is probably helping but there's better sentiment generally. Everybody is waiting to see if Jackson Hole will be a turning point for commodities," said Eugen Weinberg, global head of commodities research at Commerzbank.

Central bankers and economists are due to meet in Jackson Hole, Wyoming later this week where Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver a speech that will be scoured for clues on a third round of quantitative easing.

He told a Congressional oversight panel in a letter that the Federal Reserve has room to deliver additional monetary stimulus to boost the U.S. economy.
The markets will also look for policy signals from the euro zone ahead of a September 6 meeting of the European Central Bank. RESOURCES