Reuters Daily Agriculture Brief 140409

SNAPSHOT:

Financial Crisis - 1220 GMT
- Goldman Sachs beats f'casts, to raise $5 billion
- Singapore devalues currency after record GDP fall
- Germany's Merkel summons experts to assess downturn
- ECB's Orphanides says deflation risk has grown
- Greek unemployment jumps to 9.4 pct in Jan
- S.Korea c.bank to inject $2 bln into banks
- Australia business conditions better but jobs go
- New Zealand retail sales rise in Feb., rates still lower
- GM shares fall in Frankfurt amid bankruptcy fears
- Philips swings to loss, speeds up restructure
- Qantas slashes full-year pre-tax profit forecast
- More UBS job cuts seen, 240 axed in Asia-Pacific

FIRST ON REUTERS:

Reuters first on Argentine grains exchange soy crop estimate
Reuters got the weekly grains report of the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange more than two hours before competitors. Argentina is the world’s third soy exporter and the biggest provider of soyoil and soymeal. Chicago futures moved higher after Reuters ran the story about the cut in the Exchange forecast.

GRAINS:

U.S. soy extends gains on equities, China buying
PARIS/SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures edged higher to extend gains from the previous session, lifted by rising share prices and continued support from Chinese buying.
"Operators will be following closely movements on financial markets this week with the publication of quarterly results by a number of banks," French analyst Agritel said in a note.

EDIBLE OIL/OILSEEDS:

Palm at 8-mth high on talk of robust exports
JAKARTA, April 14 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures jumped 6.4 precent to a new high in nearly eight months amid market talk that key data, due to be released tomorrow, will show strong exports in the first 15 days of April, traders said.
"The entire scene is bullish," a trader at a Kuala Lumpur-based brokerage firm said, referring to stronger exports, which may lead to a further drop in palm stocks this month.

Brazil soy crop 69 pct harvested, sales lag
SAO PAULO, April 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's 2008/09 soybean crop was 69 percent harvested by April 9, up 8 percentage points from a week earlier, while forward sales were still well behind last year, analysts Celeres said on Monday.
Harvesting progressed 3 percentage points in Mato Grosso, Brazil's top soy-producing state, where beans are sown and mature earlier than the rest of the soy belt. Harvest reached 94 percent of the expected crop, down from 99 percent a year ago.

FINANCIAL MARKETS:

World stocks power to fresh 3-month high
LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - World stocks powered to fresh three-month highs after strong earnings from Goldman Sachs, while jitters about other corporate results kept government bonds and the low-yielding yen on a firm footing.
"The markets have a distinctly optimistic tone this morning and are simply disinclined to engage in negative ... thinking," said Manus Cranny, senior market commentator at MF Global Spreads.

BEYOND THE HEADLINES:

Commodities follow stock market but demand is key
NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - Prices of many commodities are cuing off the equities markets' view of the economic outlook, and the correlation should continue until investors get a better read on demand for raw materials.
For years, a key reason for investing in oil, copper and corn futures was the belief they would rise if stock prices fell.