IPE Brent futures open lower:IPE Brent crude oil futures were called to open 15 cents lower this morning and gas oil was seen around $1.50 lower on the back of bearish US stock inventory figures. September NYMEX was down 12 cents at $13.63.SIMEX Brent was bid at $12.50 and offered at $12.65 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institutes (API) latest report showed crude stocks up 1.88 million barrels nationwide last week at nearly 344 million barrels, lower than expectations of a 2.5 million barrel build. But crude stocks are now 34 million barrels above year ago levels.

TOCOM palladium falls, gold rebounds:Yen-based palladium futures closed lower on Wednesday following sharp losses in NYMEX prices overnight, but gold and silver futures rebounded in line with firmer spot market prices, traders said. Palladium futures ranged from 19 to 41 yen per gram lower. Benchmark June ended off 20 yen at 1,216 yen. "TOCOM palladium tracked New York's losses overnight amid expectations that Russia will shortly resume exports under term contracts," one trader said. "But losses were limited as operators were mostly cautious about building short positions at current levels. Technically driven buying also supported prices," he added.

KL palm oil down:Malaysian palm oil prices were lower at midday in continued thin trade as players sold their positions due to weaker soyoil futures and the ringgits strength against the dollar, traders said. "Trading this morning was quiet. There were no fresh factors in the market," said a trader who expects the market to trade in a narrowrange until new leads emerged. There was no reports of Indian palm oil buying tenders on Wednesday, traders said. India is expected to come into the market to buy more palmolein ahead of a Hindu festival. Traders said the market is waiting for fresh estimates of July crop from private forecaster Ivan Wong expected later this week. Turnover on the futures market totalled 257 lots at midday. By the close of the morning session, third month October futures contract was down eight ringgit at 2,375 ringgit ($575.06) a tonne. Other traded futures contracts also posted small losses.

South Korea bans fruit imports from San Diego:South Koreas Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said on Wednesday it had banned fruit imports from San Diego County in California due to the detection of the destructive Mediterranean fruit fly. The ministry's National Plant Quarantine Service said in a statement it on Tuesday banned fruit imports including oranges, grapefruit and lemons after the United States notified SouthKorea it had discovered six Medflies from two places near the city of San Diego. It said the quarantine office had tightened checks forfruits imported from the United States and banned fruit imports from San Diego to prevent Medflies from entering South Korea. The quarantine office earlier banned fruit imports from five areas in Florida -- Lake, Marion, Manatee and Highlands counties and Miami Springs in Dade County -- due to Medflies. The Mediterranean fruit fly is one of the worlds most destructive agricultural pests, attacking more than 250 different fruits, nuts and vegetables. It can halve crop yields.

Dalian soybean futures end mixed:Dalian soybean futures ended mixed on Wednesday in slow trade with continued losses on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) discouraging buyers, traders said. But short-covering in the September contract pushed it to close firm, they said. The key November 1998 contract ended at 2,565 yuan ($310) per tonne, falling one yuan compared with Tuesdays close. It opened at2,564, hitting an intraday high of 2,569 and a low of 2,560. "Traders with short positions in September were worried that they could not find enough soybeans for September delivery, so they bailed out," one trader said. "But institutions by and large took a wait-and-see stance," he said. CBOT August contract slumped to a new three-year low for the nearby contract of $5.64 a bushel and closed 8- cents lower at $5.64-1/2. Other key months ended down 4- cents to cent. In Dalian, the September 1998 contract rose five to 2,688 yuan per tonne, the January 1999 contract put on five to 2,427, March fell four to 2,428, May added seven to 2,472 and July gained 11 to 2,495. Combined volume fell to 48,952 lots from 61,000 lots.

Tokyo corn futures end lower:Tokyo yen-denominated corn futures ended lower across the board on Wednesday due to moderate long-liquidation after gains were limited in the Chicago market overnight, analysts said. "Private investors were disappointed to see small gains in the Chicagomarket overnight despite the weekly USDA crop reports," one analyst at a commodity broker said. Weekly USDA crop reports, issued after the Chicago close on Monday, rated 68 per cent of the US corn crop good to excellent, unchanged from a week earlier. Some players had expected an improvement in crop conditions. Prices ranged from 90 yen to 170 yen per tonne weaker. Benchmark July was down 100 yen to end at 15,230 yen. Estimated volume was thin at 20,810 lots. Private investors were wary of taking fresh positions until fresh factors emerge. The September corn futures contract on the CBOT Project A trading system also was quoted at $2.12- per bushel at 0710 GMT compared with Tuesdays Chicago close of $2.13-1/2.

Cbot corn, wheat futures steady:Corn and wheat futures ended steady to mixed on Tuesday at the Chicago Board of Trade, with analysts saying corn got strength from fund buying while wheat followed the soy complex down. "All in all, it was a very disappointing day for the bulls, " said VictorLespinasse, analyst with AG Edwards on the CBOT floor He said that corn had a little strength from some late fund buying. "But the weathers still bearish and the demand is still poor," he added. Ron kucha, broker with OConnor & Co on the CBOT floor, said the market was oversold and due for a technical bounce, but that the bounce didn't last in any pit except for corn. He said that traders are awaiting Wednesdays weather model s and trade estimates on crop production.

Euro cash grains unchanged:European cash grain prices are mostly unchanged to lower on Tuesday, with harvest pressure and a lack of export demand continuing to weigh on the market, said traders. The harvest in northern France, Germany and the UK has been hampered over the past week by poor weather, but warm, dry weather, forecast for this week, should allow better progress, traders said. In France, wheat prices are mostly unchanged as the market awaits the results of the harvest. The harvest has moved into Frances main wheat growingareas, the Paris Basin and Picardie, but wet weather has hampered progress. However, warm, dry weather is forecast for the remainder of the week allowing the harvest to get into full swing, traders said.

European raw cotton down:Prices for European raw cotton continued to move down on Tuesday, but trading is thin amid forecasts of poor autumn sales of cotton goods. Cotlook, the Liverpool-based cotton information company, said European trade is being undermined by competition from Central Asia and West Africa. Eastern European markets are also static, it said. Futures prices on the New York Cotton Exchange have been hard hit despite drought damage to the new Texas crop, a trader in New York said. Cotlook reported US Orlando/Texas middling and US Memphis is middling both down 1.00 cent a pound, to 74.00 C/lb and 74.25 C/lb, respectively. The African franc zone also saw prices fall 0.50 C/lb to 71.50 C/lb. Cotlook Index A was quoted at 67.60 C/lb, down 0.60C from Monday.

Cotton settles higher ontechnical buying:Cotton futures on the New York Cotton Exchange on Tuesday settled higher after technical buying, analysts said. Ann Prendergast, analyst with Refco, Inc in New York, said that "70.00 cents is a critical level" of support for December cotton, and technical traders bought the dip to that level Tuesday. "They're trying to find out where the low is," she said. Another analyst said that traders are watching developments in China where the cotton crop has been damaged by flooding. Weather Services Corporation reported that "crop areas in Hubei and western Anhui are suffering from major flood damage." Traders "are talking about the Chinese flooding," Mollitor said. Nonetheless, he added that "all it did was limit the weakness that is prevalent" in the long-term market. Traders are cautious because of the USDA supply-demand report to be released on August 12, he said. Traders said Monday that many are looking for the USDA to project 1998-99 product at 14.5 million to 15.0 million bales. USDAprojected a 15.0-million-bale 1998-99 crop in July.

TOCOM rubber ends lower:Tokyo rubber futures ended lower across the board on Wednesday, reflecting weaker overseas prices and the yens firmer tendency against the dollar, traders said. Prices ranged from 2.5 yen to 3.7 yen per kg lower. Benchmark January ended down 2.9 yen at 102.9 yen. "A big player started to liquidate their long positions in the spot August contract, which prompted other private investors to sell futures," one analyst at a commodity broker said. The dollar was down nearly one yen by late Tokyo trade on Wednesday compared with Tuesdays New York close, amid worries about US stocks.