CRUDE OIL

US stocks advanced in early trade on Tuesday, the first trading day of March, after markets recorded third consecutive monthly gains in February.

India's budget belied expectations of cuts in fuel taxes on Monday, denying any relief to state-run oil firms but boosting chances of a planned ministerial meeting taking up the issue of raising prices soon.

Indian Oil Corp, the country's biggest fuel retailer, said on Tuesday there was a need to raise petrol prices, a day after the federal budget failed to announce any measures to stem revenue losses of state oil firms.

Rosneft (ROSN.MM) is set to take on Gazprom (GAZP.MM) when Russia puts the Kovykta gas field on the block on Tuesday as the country's top crude producer aims to muscle in on the gas export monopoly's plans to supply China.

BMO Capital Markets has downgraded shares of FMCG giant Procter & Gamble to market perform from outperform, saying that the earnings growth in the second half will be slower than its expectations.

US stocks opened higher in early trade on Monday, with S&P 500 Index gaining 7.54 points, or 0.57 percent, to trade at 1,326.97 at 09:55 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 76.82 points, or 0.63 percent, to trade at 12,207.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.49 percent to trade at 2,795.40.

Chinese shares rose on Monday, reversing early losses as Asian markets edged up after last week's dip, with investors gearing up for earnings results from big hitters including banking giant HSBC.

Government forces shot dead at least two protesters in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Friday, television stations reported, as a popular uprising against Muammar Gaddafi closed in on his main power base.

BP said on Friday it would shut its Plutonio oilfield in Angola for maintenance work in April and expected the stream to return to production in May.

Gold and Silver Prices failed to hold onto a sharp overnight bounce in London trade on Friday, trading below $1404 and $33 respectively per ounce as volatility in crude oil remained at record levels but world stock markets rose for the first day in six.

It’s no secret that speculators are buying up long contracts of commodities futures. However, the crowding of speculators in into one trade (in this case, long all kinds of commodities) usually spells an imminent reversal, especially if commercial users are on the other side of their trades.

Commodity analysts at Nomura Holdings Inc. said. Brent crude prices could double to $220 per barrel in the coming weeks if Libya descends into an all-out civil war and further shuts down oil production in the country.

The Gold Price rose further in London trade Thursday morning, hitting new 2011 highs for Dollar investors as Brent crude oil jumped to $119 per barrel and a raft of economic analysis warned of stagflation ahead for the global economy.

Oil prices continue to rise amidst fears that violent unrest in Libya will not only cut off supplies from that nation, but perhaps spread to other, larger oil producers, including Saudi Arabia.

Gold steadied near seven-week highs on Thursday, as investor fears over inflation stemming from the spike in crude oil were partially offset by pockets of profit-taking after the market's 6 percent rise this month.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia - jointly the world's biggest oil producer alongside Russia, and so far immune to the civil unrest sweeping North Africa and the Middle East - returned from hospital treatment abroad to announce a near US$38 billion package of new housing projects, a 15% pay-rise across the board, and the kingdom's first-ever unemployment insurance.

Most Asian stocks ended lower on Wednesday, led by declines from airlines as crude oil prices surged on growing fears that Libya may descend into a civil war after Colonel Moammar Gaddafi warned that he would never give up his power and would rather die a “martyr.”

A recent expedition to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico found that last summer's oil spill will likely affect the region for several more years.

Crude oil prices have surged more than 7 percent this morning in New York trading, reaching as high as $98 per barrel, as the chaos in Libya raised fears of supply disruptions.

US stocks declined in early trade on Tuesday as political unrest in the Middle East weighed on the sentiment.

Refiners Holly and Frontier Oil agreed to merge in an all-stock deal valued at nearly $3 billion, to create an independent refiner serving the mid-continent, Rocky Mountain and Southwest refining markets.