Oil prices rise in Asian trade

Oil prices rose in Asian trade on Thursday, buoyed by Wall Street's overnight rally, analysts said.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, gained 97 cents to USD 50.22 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery rose 89 cents to USD 53.33.



Oil prices are being lifted by Wall Street's rally as investors ignore the bigger-than-expected rise in US crude

stocks which is seen as an indicator of weak demand, analysts said.



"I think it's a bit of a follow-up effect from a rally in Wall Street," said Jason Feer, Asia Pacific vice president of energy market analysts Argus Media in Singapore.



The US Department of Energy said on Wednesday that crude stocks surged 5.6 million barrels in the week ending 10th April to 366.7 million barrels, the highest level since September 1990.



Crude inventories are now 16.5 per cent higher than at the same stage last year.



The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut its estimate for world crude demand again, arguing that a "devastating contraction" in consumption would keep prices under pressure in the months ahead.



"In the coming months, the market is expected to remain under pressure from uncertainties in the economic outlook, demand deterioration and the substantial overhang in supply," OPEC said Wednesday in its latest monthly report.

Pound rises to three-month high

Sterling rose above $1.50 on Wednesday, its highest level against the dollar since mid-January, as a UK housing survey raised hopes of a recovery.

It also rose against the euro, hitting a six-week high of 1.1372 euros.

Sterling received a boost after a survey of chartered surveyors suggested that interest from home-buyers had started to gain "real momentum".

The pound rose as high as $1.5037, but later fell back below the $1.50 mark to trade at $1.4986 in afternoon trading.

Sterling touched its lowest levels in 24 years in mid-January, nearing $1.35 as the depth of the UK's recession became clear.

A survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) found that new inquiries in the housing market had increased for the fifth consecutive month in March.

However, the study also found that surveyors had sold on average fewer than 10 homes each over the past three months.

"The strong Rics survey overnight has boosted sterling," Lee Ferridge, a currency strategist at State Street, told the Reuters news agency.

"It is higher than it was 12 months ago and people are seeing tentative signs of green shoots in the UK housing market," he added.

Swiss bank UBS to cut 8,700 jobs

Switzerland's biggest bank, UBS, has said it will seek to cut costs by shedding 8,700 jobs by next year.

The news came as the bank announced it had lost about 2bn Swiss francs ($1.75bn; £1.2bn) in the first three months of 2009.

UBS has been one of the biggest banks hit by exposure to the sub-prime loans crisis in the US and ensuing turmoil.

"Unfortunately I am not able, as yet, to offer you any good news," said chief executive Oswald Gruebel.

Later on Wednesday, the Swiss President told the BBC that the former UBS management had taken too many risks, but that he was confident the new team would restore the bank's reputation as the backbone of Swiss financing.

UBS has recently replaced both its chairman and chief executive.

Weak exports hit China's growth

Annual growth in China's gross domestic product (GDP) slowed in the first quarter of 2009 to 6.1%, the National Bureau of Statistics has announced.

This is the weakest growth since quarterly records began in 1992, but some analysts see signs of a recovery.

Growth was 6.8% in the last quarter of 2008, but the first quarter GDP figure dropped as exports fell 17% in March.

China's government has said it is determined to achieve annual growth of 8%, and to expand its domestic demand.

"There's little the Chinese government can do to help key markets for Chinese products in the US and Europe recover," said the BBC's Chris Hogg in Shanghai.

"That's why it's focussing on trying to stimulate domestic demand."

There has been a recognition among Chinese state officials that too sharp an economic slowdown could lead to growing unemployment and may fuel social unrest.

'Pressure'

Announcing the GDP figure, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that export demand had dropped sharply, cutting into company profits, reducing government revenues and raising unemployment.

"The national economy is confronted with the pressure of a slowdown," an NBS statement said.

China experienced double-digit growth from 2003 to 2007, and recorded 9% growth in 2008.

Analysts said the first-quarter drop in growth was in line with expectations.

But other data offered by the government suggested a tentative recovery may already be under way.

Industrial output expanded 5.1% in the first quarter. It was up 8.3% year-on-year in March, against 3.8% in January and February.

Fixed asset investment on items such as new factories and equipment was up 28.6% in March from 26.5% in February.

Spending on property development grew by 4.1% in the first quarter, and retail sales remained strong with a 14.7% growth during March.

'Surge in investment'

"Most of the indicators are better than earlier market expectations, although the annual GDP growth in the first quarter is a historical low," said Xing Zhqiang, analyst at China International Capital Corporation in Beijing.

"We expect that the most difficult time for China's economy has passed, as the surge in investment has partly offset the negative impact from declining exports."

China has started to implement a 4 trillion yuan ($585bn, £390bn) stimulus package to counter the impact of the global slowdown, and this package has been seen as helping to spur lending in the first three months of the year.

"The overall national economy showed positive changes, with better performance than expected," the NBS said.

It said that urban per-capita incomes were up 11.2% from a year earlier in real terms and that rural per-capita incomes were up 8.6%.

The consumer price index (CPI), China's main gauge of inflation, fell 0.6% in the first quarter of 2009 from a year earlier, according to the bureau.