Eskom may quit South Dunes

(Fin24) - Another large tranche of export entitlement through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) will soon become available for black empowered coal companies if Eskom Enterprises pulls out of the South Dunes Coal Terminal (SDCT).

Eskom Enterprises is a 50% shareholder in the SDCT which has a six million tonnes (Mt) entitlement to export through the RBCT in terms of its R1.2bn phase five expansion.

It is understood that Eskom is reviewing its participation in the SDCT and is likely to decide to opt out meaning its 3Mt entitlement will be up for grabs.

There should be no shortage of bidders for that entitlement. When the RBCT last year offered 9Mt/year of "subscription quota" coal in terms of the phase five expansion it received 26 applications for a total of 26.85Mt/year.

Of those, 18 applications totalling 19Mt met all the pre-qualification criteria but only eight companies were successful.

 

Read more at Fin24

Gold Climbs to Record on Higher Oil Prices, Weakening Dollar

(Bloomberg) -- Gold rose to a record as higher crude oil and a weaker dollar spurred demand for the metal as a hedge against inflation.

Gold is off to its best start to the year since 1980. Oil rose to a record $100 last week, U.S. warships were confronted by Iranian boats over the weekend, and the dollar today fell against 15 of 16 major currencies.

``The U.S. dollar is weakening and oil has picked back up,'' said David Thurtell, a metals analyst at BNP Paribas SA in London. ``There are a lot of supportive reasons to buy and not many reasons to sell.''

Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as $17.84, or 2.1 percent, to $876 an ounce in London, exceeding the previous record of $868.89 set Jan. 3. The metal traded at $874.90 as of 12 p.m. in London. Gold for February delivery rose as much as $16.80, or 2 percent, to $878.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The metal last reached an all-time high in New York in 1980, when the dollar was weakening, oil prices were rising and the U.S. and Iran were at loggerheads. U.S. Navy warships were approached by Iranian ``fast boats'' in the Straits of Hormuz on Jan. 6, the U.S. Defense Department said yesterday. The straits are the sea route for about a quarter of the world's oil.

 

Read more at Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Climb for Second Day; Chevron, Bear Stearns Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks advanced the most in two weeks, led by miners and energy producers, after gold rose to a record and oil rebounded from its biggest decline in more than a month.

Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. energy company, and Schlumberger Ltd., the world's biggest oilfield-services provider, climbed. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Newmont Mining Corp. rallied as prices for precious and industrial metals increased. Bear Stearns Cos. gained after a person with knowledge of the matter said Chief Executive Officer James Cayne plans to resign.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index increased 5.45, or 0.4 percent, to 1,420.62 as of 9:39 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 24.22, or 0.2 percent, to 12,851.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2.34, or 0.1 percent, to 2,501.8. About 13 shares climbed for every five that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares rose in Europe and Asia, led by miners and telephone companies. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index of European shares added 0.9 percent for its first gain of the year.

``With oil where it is right now between $90 and $100, the oil companies do pretty darn well and they still look relatively inexpensive,'' Jeffrey Saut, who helps oversee about $190 billion as chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

U.S. equities also got a boost as the cost for banks to borrow in dollars and euros slid, signaling efforts by central banks to restore confidence in money markets is working. Investors will get further clues on the outlook for economic growth and interest rates from a private report today that may show pending home sales fell for the first time in three months.

 

Read more at Bloomberg

Economic worries mar tech show's glitz

(Reuters) - The world's major technology companies are trying to convince consumers they need an expensive, digitally connected home with the latest high-tech gadgets.

But there's a problem: an increasing number of consumers are having trouble just paying for the roof over the heads, much less a 150-inch television.

Few company executives at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week can avoid questions about the state of the economy, and the combination of a surge in the U.S. jobless rate, oil around $100 and a worsening credit and housing crisis has many on edge.

"The fourth quarter is full of strange, unanswerable situations related to unemployment, related to GDP, related to everything else," Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Howard Stringer said on Monday after a briefing at the show. "So it's too soon for us to be pessimistic, but I read the papers."

 

Read more at Reuters