China :: Business & Economy

U.S. crude oil price rose on Tuesday as fighting in Libya and protests in oil-rich Middle East countries were raising investors' concerns over oil supply disruptions. The conflict in Libya still dominated the oil prices' directions, while protests in Yemen and Syria also added to investors' concerns that oil supply would be disrupted in the oil- rich Middle East and North Africa region. Meanwhile, investors are waiting for the U.S. oil inventory reports, which will be released by the American Petroleum Institute later on Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, respectively, to give more guidance in such crisis-dominated markets. Light, sweet crude for April delivery gained 1.67 dollars to settle at 104.00 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for May delivery also climbed 73 cents to settle at 115.64 dollars per barrel on the ICE futures exchange. Source: Xinhua ...

OIL prices could climb to US$120 per barrel this year, a level that would be "acceptable," Iraq's oil minister said yesterday while announcing that the country would hold its fourth energy bidding round in November. Abdul-Karim Elaibi said current prices for crude "indicate that the (oil price) will reach US$120, which is an acceptable price." Oil prices, currently at about US$102 per barrel for the United States benchmark crude futures contract, have climbed as fighting in Libya raised concerns about supplies. Exports from the North African nation, which before the ongoing crisis produced about 1.6 million barrels per day, have largely been halted. Also factoring into prices were worries that the unrest that has gripped the Arab world could spread to the oil rich Gulf Arab region, affecting supplies from other key members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. For Iraq, rising prices are a boon. The country relies on oil sales for the overwhe...

South Korean shares ended 0.5 percent higher on Tuesday as eased concerns over Japan's nuclear power plants underpinned investor sentiment, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10. 24 points, or 0.51 percent to 2,013.66, extending its winning streak into five trading days. Trading volume stood at 301.1 million shares worth 7.41 trillion won (6.61 billion U.S. dollars). The KOSPI started 0.45 percent higher and fluctuated around 2, 010 points all the trading day as Japan's nuclear crisis passed its worst case scenario. Japan said on Sunday that a power line was connected to some of the damaged reactors to restore cooling systems, easing concerns over further radiation leaks. Speculation that the political unrest in Libya will likely be resolved earlier than expected also helped the KOSPI rise above the 2,010-level since mid-February. Continued foreign buying drove the KOSPI higher. Foreign investors bought a net 236 billion ...

The Chinese economy is faced with three external challenges in 2011. China is expected to keep its Consumer Price Index (CPI) this year below 4 percent, and there is still room for raising the reserve requirement ratio, said experts at the 12th China Development Forum sponsored by the Development Research Center of the State Council from March 19. Yu Yongding, a research fellow at the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that China's economy is faced with three serious external challenges in 2011. First, the global economy will continue to grow, but very slowly this year, though it may grow faster than the past two years. Second, the global inflation situation may further deteriorate as a result of the expansionary monetary policy adopted by the United States. Third, the world is facing a high risk of debt crises. Yu believes that the U.S. debt problem has not been resolved. The world will always be at risk of...

Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd said on Tuesday its first-quarter iron ore production in Western Australia 's Pilbara region would highlight the impact of the tropical cyclones in February. Speaking at a conference in Perth on Tuesday, Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Sam Walsh said, "We have only just regained momentum and our quarterly production report will highlight the impact." Rio Tinto's current Pilbara capacity is 225 million tons a year and it is moving to expand output to 333 million tons a year by the end of 2015. "We do not expect our expansion to stop at 333," Walsh said. He told reporters that tight equipment supply from Japan after the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami has affected on the miners' expansion efforts in terms of cost. He said the company's Canadian iron ore operations were also expanding quickly to meet demand which was already heightened before the Japanese crisis. Walsh said the magnitude of reconstruc...

SHARES in Shanghai posted modest gains this morning thanks to strong performances among lenders, which rallied over anticipations that their earnings could beat previous expectations. The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.22 percent to 2,915.50. Turnover declined 67.46 billion yuan (US$10.27 billion) from yesterday morning's 72.31 billiojn yuan. Banks extended yesterday's gains as analysts overweighed the sector given their current low PE levels while profits look attractive. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China gained 0.69 percent to 4.37 yuan. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank climbed 2.09 percent to 13.21 yuan. Average profit growth for listed banks could surpass 20 percent both in last year and this year while their average PE level now is only around 10 times, according to a report by Shenyin Wanguo Securities Co. The brokerage said lenders such as Minsheng Bank, China Construction Bank Corp, Industrial Bank Co and China Merchants Bank could be ideal investments now....

ZTE headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. Some Chinese companies, including ZTE, China's major telecom equipment maker, have been seriously affected by the political unrest and subsequent airstrikes in Libya. [ China Daily ] The Libyan turmoil will not hurt China's investment and business in Africa as a whole, although investment activities have been halted after the breakout of the unrest, officials and experts said. Early on Sunday, Western countries, including the United States and France, launched airstrikes and fired cruise missiles, a month after the unrest erupted in some Libyan cities in February. China will not make new investments in Libya in the short term until the Libyan situation stabilizes, an official with the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday. "Before the situation becomes clear, the exchanges between China and Libya in terms of trade, construction contracts and investment will be seriously affected," an official in charge of West Asian and...