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• REFILE-UPDATE 3-Indonesia Dec trade deficit narrows, but concerns linger

  JAKARTA, Feb 1- Indonesia's trade deficit narrowed in December, but exports fell much more than expected and some economists predict that 2012' s first annual deficit in history might not be the country's last.

• METALS-LME copper gains as global recovery outweighs China data

  *China's official PMI eases to 50.4 in January. SINGAPORE, Feb 1- London copper rose on Friday but stayed off four-month highs struck in the previous session as growing confidence about a global economic recovery overcame a tepid expansion in China's factory sector in January.

• UPDATE 2-Brent climbs towards $116 on Mideast tensions

  *China official PMI slightly lower than expected. SINGAPORE, Feb 1- Brent crude climbed towards $116 a barrel on Friday, its highest level in more than three months, as escalating tension in the Middle East stoked supply worries. Brent had risen 23 cents to $115.78 a barrel by 0737 GMT, after an earlier high of $115.91 marking its highest since mid-October.

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares steady; regional PMI data dampens mood

  *MSCI Asia ex- Japan steady. European markets are likely to inch higher, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX would open up as much as 0.2 percent.

• UPDATE 2-Indonesia Dec trade deficit narrows, but concerns linger

  JAKARTA, Feb 1- Indonesia's trade deficit narrowed in December, but exports fell much more than expected and some economists predict that 2012' s first annual deficit in history might not be the country's last. We doubt it, "wrote Credit Suisse economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde wrote in a research note.

• UPDATE 1-Brent climbs above $115 on Mideast tensions, but China data drags

  *China official PMI slightly lower than expected. SINGAPORE, Feb 1- Brent crude hovered on Friday above $115 a barrel, its highest level in more than three months, as escalating tension in the Middle East stoked supply worries. Brent had risen 27 cents to $115.82 a barrel by 0552 GMT, after an earlier high of $115.91 marking its highest since mid-October.

• UPDATE 6-Brent crude up, spread trading widens premium to US oil

  The spread had narrowed earlier this month with the start up of the expanded Cushing to Texas Seaway pipeline, which had been expected to to draw down Midwest inventories bulging from rising North American production.

• METALS-Copper up on growth optimism, U.S. economy perks up

  *China factory PMI shows mild rebound. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at $8,290 a tonne, up from a close of $8,165 on Thursday when it touched a 3-1/ 2 month intraday high at $8,291.25 a tonne.

• Yuan hits 4-week low, c.bank wary of Asian currency weakness

  *Stability expected through Lunar New Year. SHANGHAI, Feb 1- China's yuan touched a nearly four-week low on Friday as the central bank set another soft fixing Of its official midpoint in response to weakness in the yen and other Asian currencies.

• Brent hits more than 3-mth high, above $115 on Mideast tensions

  *China official PMI slightly lower than expected. SINGAPORE, Feb 1- Brent crude hit its highest in more than three months on Friday and held above $115 a barrel as escalating tension in the Middle East stoked supply worries. But disappointing economic data from China, the world's second largest oil consumer, capped gains.

• FOREX-Downtrodden yen sees no relief; euro pushes higher

  SINGAPORE/ SYDNEY, Feb 1- The yen hit multi-year lows against its G3 peers on Friday, having posted its biggest monthly decline in 12 years versus the euro as the market positioned for more aggressive easing from the Bank of Japan.

• UPDATE 1-Indonesia Dec trade deficit narrows, 2012 exports down 6.6 pct

  JAKARTA, Feb 1- Indonesia reported a smaller-than-expected trade deficit in December that took its trade gap for 2012- the country's first ever- to $1.63 billion. For December, the deficit was $0.15 billion, compared with November's $0.48 billion, the country's statistics bureau announced on Friday.

• METALS-LME copper near 4-mth top after China factory data

  SINGAPORE, Feb 1- London copper rose on Friday to hold near four-month highs struck the session before after China's factory output grew in January, bolstering confidence in a global economic recovery. *The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged down 0.13 percent to 59,480 yuan a tonne.

• PRECIOUS-Gold headed for weekly rise; US jobs data in focus

  SINGAPORE, Feb 1- Gold traded largely unchanged on Friday, heading for a small weekly rise as investors await key U.S. employment data to assess the state of recovery in the world's top economy. *Spot gold traded little changed at $1,662.15 an ounce by 0037 GMT, on course for a weekly rise of 0.2 percent, paring some losses from the previous week's 1.5- percent slide.

• Iran Oil Exports to Asia Fell by a Quarter in 2012

  

  Iran's crude exports to its biggest customer, Asia, fell by a quarter in 2012 and shipments this year are expected to drop by at least 12 percent under U.S. sanctions pressure, but ample alternative supplies will keep refiners flush with oil.

• UPDATE 7-Brent crude rises, premium widens over US crude

  NEW YORK, Jan 31- Brent crude oil futures rose to three-month highs on Thursday, widening its premium over U.S. crude, concerns about rising crude stockpiles in the U.S. Traders cited concerns about stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for the U.S. contract, which have pushed to record highs.

• Asia to deepen Iran oil import cuts in 2013 as sanctions bite

  SINGAPORE/ TOKYO, Feb 1- Iran's crude exports to its biggest customer, Asia, fell by a quarter in 2012 and shipments this year are expected to drop by at least 12 percent under U.S. sanctions pressure, but ample alternative supplies will keep refiners flush with oil. From Asia, Iran lost $14 billion worth of oil exports for the year, according to Reuters calculations.

• UPDATE 6-Brent crude oil edges up with economic sentiment

  NEW YORK, Jan 31- Brent crude oil prices edged higher on Thursday, briefly touching a three-month high, as traders weighed mixed economic data from the United States and Europe. The international benchmark rose to $115.25 a barrel, the highest level since mid-October, before retreating as U.S. crude and gasoline futures sank.

• UPDATE 5-Oil slips under $115, underlying strength seen

  "I wouldn't read too much into it," said Carsten Fritsch, an oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, adding he expected oil prices to make further gains this week. Brent slipped 23 cents to $114.67 a barrel by 1452 GMT, after earlier hitting $115.25, the highest since Oct. 16.

• Navy: Ship run aground is complete loss

  HONOLULU-- The U.S. Navy plans to dismantle a minesweeper that ran aground on a coral reef off the Philippines because the ship is a complete loss and because removing it intact would cause more damage to the reef and the ship's hull, a spokesman said Wednesday. Limiting damage to the coral, which is part of a national marine park, is important to the Navy, James said.