copper down 1500 tonnes
aluminium up 11,950 tonnes
lead up 575 tonnes
nickel down 192 tonnes
zinc down 650 tonnes
tin down 45 tonnes

Euroshares open lower on Chinese rate hike fears; miners, insurers fall LONDON - Leading European exchanges moved lower in opening deals as fears of a rate hike in China hit global markets with mining and insurance stocks feeling the brunt of the selling pressure, dealers said. At 08.51, the STOXX 50 was down 40.94 points at 3,811.95 and the STOXX 600 was down 4.46 points at 381.41 In Asia, China-related stocks led the fall on fears that the mainland's A-share markets may be in for a big correction adding to speculation of a further rate hike. The Hang Seng Index ended the morning down 404.71 points or 1.95 pct at 20,372.38, off a low of 20,334.15 and high of 20,634.90. The Nikkei closed down 295.36 points at 17,371.97. Mining stocks underperformed as China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth continued to accelerate, despite tightening measures taken by Beijing and suggesting a further rate hike is inevitable. The China concerns caused panic selling of copper plays, dealers said, amid fears that any slowdown in China's growth will impact on commodity prices. Base metals prices eased in response, with gold futures over 3 usd lower at 690.2 an ounce in Asian trade, and both silver and copper prices also on the back foot. Xstrata and Anglo American shares fell 2.66 pct and 2.7 pct respectively. Rio Tinto was also dragged down by its first quarter production update which showed lower iron ore output in a first quarter, prompting Merrill Lynch to repeat its 'neutral' stance. Rio Tinto said iron ore output in the first quarter of its December year from its Hamersley mines in the Pilbara totaled 23.9 mln metric tons, up 17 pct on the same quarter a year earlier but down 3 pct on the December quarter. Output at the majority-owned Robe River joint venture in the same region totaled 6.5 mln tons, up 8.0 pct on a year earlier but down 12 pct on the December quarter. Among financials, Axa fell 2.44 pct, Allianz fell 1.95 pct as selling pressure on the global markets weighed. Prudential outperformed, though, down only 0.07 pct as the life insurer reported better-than-expected first-quarter sales, with a strong performance in Asia offsetting a continued downturn at its UK division. Prudential, the UK's second-biggest insurer, said total sales for the three months to March 31 2007 came in at 640 mln stg on an annual premium equivalent basis, up 8 pct compared with the same period last year at constant exchange rates. Analysts had expected sales of 613 mln stg, according to a consensus forecast supplied by the company. Converium Holding AG was down 0.23 pct as it reported a first-quarter net profit of 150.9 mln usd, up from 61.6 mln last year, boosted by a tax valuation allowance of 85 mln usd

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Oil prices found no clear direction after a mixed picture of US energy stocks emerged from the latest weekly snapshot reported by the Energy Information Administration. While headline figures showed a sharper than expected fall, there were offsetting gains in US gasoline production and imports in US weekly stocks data just out. Gasoline is the most important indicator ahead of the peak demand US driving season which starts at the end of May. At 4.54 pm, London Brent crude for June delivery was down 37 cents at 65.56 usd a barrel. Meanwhile, New York crude for May delivery was down 17 cents at 62.93 usd a barrel. New York May contracts will expire on Friday. The Energy Information Administration said gasoline stocks fell by 2.7 mln barrels in the week to March 13, against an expected drop of 1.66 mln barrels. Crude oil inventories also surprised the market, falling by 1 mln barrels against an expected rise of 890,000 barrels. Meanwhile, gasoline production was up 133,000 bpd and that imports were up 86,000 bpd. Citigroup analyst, Tim Evans said the data had a bit of everything. "The crude stock decline was supportive," he said, adding however that "market focus here is on rising supplies." Gasoline demand was down 2.4 pct from the week before but up 2.6 pct compared with last year. Distillates, which include heating oil were down 800,000 barrels, largely in line with a predicted 512,000-barrel fall. Man Financial analyst Edward Meir said prices may have dipped after the data was released as a rise in refinery runs was also reported, signalling higher supplies. "But, its still early, and we could end up higher," he said. Utilisation rates increased by 2 pct to 90.4 pct last week, against an expected rise of just 0.33 pct. "Higher utilisation rates, coupled with increasing imports, should serve to balance the product market," said analysts at Credit Suisse. Increased utilisation rates also show refiners are successfully coming to the end of the maintenance period, which lasts from late January to April. Elsewhere, traders kept a close eye on developments in Nigeria, the world's eighth largest oil exporter, ahead of presidential elections this weekend. Last week at least 21 people were killed during the initial state elections. "The countrys propensity for violence should increase over the next few weeks ahead of very controversial elections," said Meir of Man Financial. "We would not be surprised to see majors like Royal Dutch Shell being cautious about announcing any type of restarts, knowing full well that the country is entering yet another dangerous period just ahead." Shell traders said the company was expected to restart its Forcados crude oil stream in Nigeria's Niger Delta after being shut a year ago following militant attacks. However, the company declined to comment officially. The news "has weighed more on UK Brent, since it is more closely tied to flows from West Africa," commented Nas Nijjar,