US West Coast products steady to lower: US West Coast refined oil product prices were flat to lower in moderate trading on Wednesday. Ultra-clean CARB gasoline was steady at 50/51 cents a gallon in Los Angeles despite some minor demand from big refineries. Buying from big plants was offset by lower New York gasoline futuresand thin demand for later months. San Francisco prices remained 1.50 cent a gallon over LA. Soft demand could drive prices lower in the short-term. Jet fuel in LA, meanwhile, fell with lower New York futures prices and thin demand. Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a further rise in inventories of gasoline and distillates last week, though crude oil inventories dropped.

Saudi naphtha counter bids up: Asian buyers of Saudi Aramco's term naphtha have bid about $5 per tonne over the Aramco formula for paraffinic A-180 naphtha, countering the state oil firm's offer price of $6 premium, traders said on Thursday. Price talks between Asian customers and the world premier naphtha supplier started on Monday in Bahrain to discuss term premiums for the first half of 1999. The buyers' side placed their bids at $3 to $4 over the formula for the ethylene-rich A-180 material prior to the Bahrain talks, traders said. For the second half of this year, A-180 fetched $11 premium, but slow regionaldemand amid Asia's Financial crisis put a bearish tone on the price talks. Three firms are scheduled to have one-on-one talks with Saudi Aramco on Thursday, wrapping up the first round of the price negotiations for the January-June period, traders said. If the seller and the buying side are not able to find a middle ground on Thursday, Aramco is likely to hold the second round of talks with several major lifters on Friday, they said.

LME copper seen staying sidelined: Copper trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME) is expected to be subdued on Thursday in the absence of fresh fundamental factors, traders said. "The copper market seems to be waiting for a fresh input to breach a recent tight range," said a trader in a local brokerage. The trader said three-month copper prices were expected to trade at a range between $1,580 and $1,640 a tonne in the short term. There has been some producer forward selling at above $1,640 a tonne, which puts the copper market under downward pressure, he said. Thetrader said current contango rates in the copper market were enough to attract producer forward selling. Cash-to-three months copper contango rates were quoted at $28/$26 a tonne late on Wednesday. Speculation in the market of further interest rate cuts by the United States has now abated which is adding downward pressure on the copper market, he said. The LME three-month copper was traded at $1,603/07 at 0310GMT on Thursday, against Wednesday's London afternoon kerb close of $1,604/05.

Tocom precious metals higher: Yen-based precious metal futures closed higher across the board on Thursday as an unexpected slip in the yen against the dollar prompted investors to cover short positions they had built the previous day, traders said. They said palladium and platinum futures were the most active, with some contracts touching daily limit highs. Palladium futures ranged from four to 40 yen per gram higher. Benchmark October gained 40 to 1,015 yen. Traders added the Tokyo market was also wary about thepossibility of US military action against Iraq in the near future. Gold futures ranged from three to 25 yen per gram higher. Benchmark October ended 17 stronger at 1,147 yen. Silver futures ranged from 0.7 to 5.9 yen per 10 grams higher. Benchmark October rose 5.3 to 194.6 yen.

Dalian soybean down: Dalian soybean futures ended lower on Thursday amid jitters ahead of the November contract's expiration on Friday, traders said. The November 1998 contract closed down the 100-yuan limit at 2,344 yuan ($283) per tonne with only two contracts traded. Short positions holders were said to have shipped a large quantity of soybeans for delivery, but the longs were likely to take only a small amount, traders said. "It is possible that the privately negotiated settlement will increase tomorrow, but the price of 2,100-2,150 yuan per tonne proposed by the shorts were unacceptable," a trader said. For other contracts, early losses were pared by light consumer buying, traders said. The most active May 1999 contractlost 13 yuan to 2,189yuan after it hit an intraday low of 2,167 and a high of 2,196.

Tokyo corn futures higher: Tokyo corn futures surged amid active trade to end higher across the board on Thursday, as a buoyant dollar/yen encouraged buying and short-covering by individual investors and some trading houses, traders said. "Investors feel that all bearish factors have come out, and that the market was able to free itself from the downward trend," said a trader at a commodities brokerage. Prices ranged from 310 to 400 yen per tonne higher. Benchmark November ended up, gaining its limit high of 400 yen to 14,170 yen. Nearby January rose 310 to 13,810 yen. Estimated volume was large at 87,920 lots. Traders said the fact four of the seven futures contracts exceeded the 14,000 level added to the bullish tone. The December contract at the CBOT Project A trade system stood at $2.24- by 0715 GMT against $2.25- on Wednesday's Chicago close.

Tokyo rubber futures recover: Tokyo rubber futures recoveredto finish higher on Thursday, helped by short-covering prompted by the strong dollar following falls on Wednesday, traders said. They said the rubber contracts were set to test the next resistance level at 93 yen per kg in the near term unless the dollar gave up its latest gains. Prices ranged from up 0.9 yen to 1.5 yen per kg. Benchmark April added 1.5 yen to close at 90.7 yen, an intra-day high. "The contract will head for 93 yen, the next resistance,"said an analyst at a commodity brokerage. "We're hoping the cheap yen is here to stay." The dollar traded above 123 yen in late Tokyo, buoyed by"safe-haven" buying on worries over a possible US military strike on Iraq.