COMMODITIES-Markets extend selloff after high US jobless claims
* New lows as traders await Friday's jobs report for March
* Corn hits 9-mth bottom, Brent crude slips to 5-mth low
* Gold at 10-month trough, copper up but seen vulnerable
NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Corn, oil and gold prices hit multi-month lows on Thursday while cotton joined the selloff in commodities that extended to a fourth day after another disappointing U.S. economic report raised worries about the health of the world's largest economy. Prices of heating oil, gasoline and a few other agricultural-based commodities also fell after an unexpected jump in U.S. weekly jobless claims to a four-month high fueled speculation that recovery was stagnating in the country's labor market. The jobless claims data came a day after a separate report showing U.S. companies hired at the slowest pace in five months in March. The two reports were released before the government's all-important U.S. jobs data for March, due on Friday.
Despite the gloom over the jobless claims data, stocks on Wall Street rebounded as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) surprised the world by promising to inject an extraordinary stimulus of about $1.4 trillion into its economy in less than two years. But the vigor on equity markets did not cross over into commodities as the BoJ stimulus pushed the dollar up 3 percent against the yen, making commodities priced in dollars less attractive to holders of the yen. Corn prices hit a 9-month low and Brent crude oil a 5-month trough. Gold tumbled to a 10-month bottom as the dollar soared against the yen. Copper recovered from Wednesday's 8-month low, but remained under pressure from weak fundamentals, traders said. Cotton fell 1 percent after weekly U.S. government export data were not seen as strong enough to boost prices and losses across commodities markets weighed. The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index ended down nearly half a percent. The CRB has dropped 2.7 percent over the last four sessions, heading for its worst week since late October. In Thursday's session, corn weighed most on the CRB, falling nearly 2 percent on continued technical selling and fund liquidation. Corn's front-month contract on the Chicago Board of Trade, May, settled down 11-1/2 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $6.30 per bushel. Earlier in the session, it fell to $6.27, the lowest spot price for U.S. corn since June 25. Soybean was another agricultural market hit hard during the session, tumbling to a 10-month low on worries that bird flu cases in China may slow demand for animal feed there. "It's more psychological, more than having any impact on the actual supply and demand for feed and meal," Anne Frick, oilseeds analyst with Jefferies Bache in New York, said, referring to the bird flu worries. May soybeans on the CBOT closed down 8-1/4 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $13.72 per bushel. During the session, it dipped to $13.61, the lowest spot price for soybeans since June 6. Brent crude prices fell to a November low of nearly $105 a barrel after the jump in U.S. jobless claims sparked a second day of heavy selling across oil markets. Brent, U.S. crude and U.S gasoline futures have all lost near 5 percent over the last two trading sessions, with traders citing ample supplies and concerns about demand. Brent finished down 0.7 percent on Thursday at $106.34 a barrel. U.S. crude, the biggest component of the CRB, settled down 1.3 percent at $93.26. Gasoline slipped 0.5 percent to close at $2.9010 a gallon. Stephen Schork, editor of the commodities newsletter The Schork Report, called the falling oil prices "the smoking gun showing we're in a market that got itself extremely overbought."
Prices at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2029 GMT)
LAST/ NET PCT YTD CLOSE CHG CHG CHG US crude 93.36 -1.09 -1.2% 1.7% Brent crude 106.44 -0.67 -0.6% -4.2% Natural gas 3.947 0.047 1.2% 17.8%US gold 1551.80 -1.00 -0.1% -7.4% Gold 1553.27 -4.08 -0.3% -7.2% US Copper 335.15 1.85 0.6% -8.2% LME Copper 7441.00 53.00 0.7% -6.2% Dollar 82.719 0.001 0.0% 7.8%US corn 630.00 -11.50 -1.8% -9.8% US soybeans 1372.00 -8.25 -0.6% -3.3% US wheat 694.00 -2.50 -0.4% -10.8%US Coffee 139.50 0.05 0.0% -3.0% US Cocoa 2141.00 -9.00 -0.4% -4.2% US Sugar 17.67 0.17 1.0% -9.4%US silver 26.767 -0.030 -0.1% -11.4% US platinum 1516.70 -23.10 -1.5% -1.4% US palladium 725.45 -30.00 -4.0% 3.1%