(CEP News) Montreal – Weakness in U.S. holiday retail sales and an ailing housing sector thwarted hopes for a continuing Christmas holiday rally, with U.S. stocks sliding throughout the Wednesday trading session as fixed income rallied. Meanwhile, Canadian markets are closed however the loonie continued to push further as oil prices soared on Wednesday.

A study by MasterCard released this morning suggested that U.S. consumers spent 3.6% more over the 2007 holiday spending season compared to 2006, which was less than economists were forecasting. U.S. equities slid further on the ICSC reporting a 2.8% annual increase in retail sales and a 1.2% annual increase in Redbook retail sales.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 41.13 points to 13508.20, the S&P 500 down 5.48 points to 1490.97 and the NASDAQ down 8.64 points to 2704.86. Read more

THE Australian stock market was higher in early trade, as gains in base metals and oil prices boosted the resources sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 32.7 points higher at 6356.3, while the All Ordinaries had gained 31.8 points to 6419.8.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract was up 31 points to 6372, on a volume of 1,059 contracts.

“Overall I expect the market to perform okay and hold up its recent gains,” CMC Markets senior dealer Dominic Vaughan said.

“They’re relatively broadly based gains – oil is up and metal prices are up and we have stability in the US. We’re seeing a little stability on global equities markets and it’s flowing through locally.”
Read more

Palm Oil Record High Demand Food – Oil

Malaysian palm oil surged to a record high on Wednesday, gaining close to 2%, as surging demand for food and fuel amid fears of falling production raised concerns about the supply outlook next year. And traders said prices of palm oil, used in products ranging from cosmetics and confectionaries to biodiesel, could rise further eary next year as fears of reduced soya plantings in the United States lift soybean prices to 34-year highs.

“It is mainly soybean oil which is pushing up the market and crude oil is also inching up,” said a trader with a domestic brokerage. By the midday break, the benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 48 ringgit at 3,078 ringgit ($923) a tonne. Minutes before that, it hit 3,080 ringgit, surpassing the previous high of 3,068 ringgit it hit in November. And in the physical market, crude palm oil for December and January shipments in the southern region was quoted at 3,070/3,080 ringgit a tonne. Read more

China will encourage foreign investment in its energy sector and will continue to improve the environment for such investment, says a white paper published on Wednesday by the Information Office of the State Council. China will improve external cooperation in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources, says the white paper, which is titled “China’s Energy Conditions and Policies.”

The paper stresses that China protects the legitimate rights and interests of foreign businesses that collaborate in oil exploitation. The country encourages foreign businesses to participate in cooperative activities in oil exploration and development, such as risk exploration for oil and natural gas, low-permeability oil fields and gas reservoirs and the improvement of recovery rates of old oil fields, says the paper.

Foreign investment is also welcome in the construction and operation of oil and gas pipelines, as well as special oil and gas storage facilities and port berths, it says. Read more

LUSAKA, Zambia – Resurgent global interest in nuclear power has made Zambia, a southern African country better known for its vast copper reserves, into a hotbed of uranium exploration.

The activity is part of a larger wave of uranium exploration and mining across the mineral-rich region, raising hopes of new jobs and tax revenue, while sparking debates over safety and security.

African Energy Resources Ltd., an Australian-owned mining outfit, is drilling on the southern border with Zimbabwe. Canadian-owned Equinox Ltd. (TSX: EQN) said in November that there is high-grade uranium in the Lumwana open pit copper mine in northwestern Zambia, and hopes to begin stockpiling it next year.

After a decades-long slump, uranium prices are high as South Africa, China, the U.S. and other countries look for cleaner and cheaper fossil-fuel alternatives. Read more

Listed firm Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. yesterday secured the approval of its board to participate in the Canatuan copper/zinc sulphide project in Canatuan, Zamboanga Peninsula.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Atlas Mining said the Canatuan project was being undertaken and operated by TVI Resource Development, a local mining and exploration firm.

Atlas said the board approval covered its advances of P42 million to TVI Resource.

The advances are intended as a convertible loan subject to the conclusion of the negotiations between Atlas and TVI Resource on the formation of a joint venture to undertake the Canatuan project.
Read more

Rising interest in nuclear power and high uranium prices have led to new uranium exploration and mining across southern Africa, home to the uranium-rich Karoo Basin. Here’s a glance at some of the countries attracting attention.

SOUTH AFRICA

Though it is believed to hold 7 percent of the world’s uranium deposits, South Africa’s uranium production has been dropping. Faced with domestic energy shortages, the South African government earlier this year proposed expanding uranium mining and processing throughout the country and constructing new nuclear power plants. Under the policy, South Africa, which gave up its nuclear weapons program in the 1990s, would only grant mining rights to foreign companies if there is enough uranium to meet local power demands. In 2007, Uranium One Ltd., of Canada, opened a new mine in South Africa. Read more