* Oil pushed up as Gustav barrels toward Gulf of Mexico
* MSCI pan-Asia equities index hangs around near 2-year low
* Toyota cuts 2009 sales forecast by 7 pct
(Updates prices, adds European outlook, quote)
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for a fourth
day on Thursday on worries that a tropical storm may strengthen
to become the worst threat to U.S. offshore oil and gas
production since 2005, while the euro rose on tough inflation
talk from the European Central Bank.
Asian stocks were little changed, but commodity-related
shares received a boost from rising metals prices and also from
crude prices, which have recovered $7 since hitting a
three-month low two weeks ago to trade above $118 a barrel.
European stock index futures pointed to a lower market open
with instability in the financial sector a key focus.
The euro moved further away from Tuesday's six-month low
versus the dollar as ECB officials overnight doused
expectations that the next move in interest rates will be
lower. Some officials even suggested increases might be needed,
despite an economy that is shrinking and perhaps already in a
recession. []
"I'm not so surprised to hear some of these hawkish sounds
coming from the ECB. They are facing after all inflation that
is double their target," said Jan Lambregts, head of Asia
research with Rabobank Global Financial Markets in Hong Kong.
"The big story continues to be about the euro zone and
Japan and the disappointment in relative growth. People knew
the situation in the U.S. wasn't great, but they are now having
to face a deceleration in the euro zone a lot quicker than many
had anticipated," he said.
The euro <EUR=> rose 0.5 percent against the U.S. dollar to
$1.4782, and has recovered more than two cents from a six-month
low of $1.4570 hit on Tuesday. It also gained 0.4 percent
against the yen <EURJPY=R> and sterling <EURGBP=>, as dealers
re-rated the expected differences in yield among the
currencies.
The dollar fell 0.5 percent against the yen at about 109
yen <JPY=>, well off a 7-month high around 110.66 yen set two
weeks ago.
October U.S. light crude futures rose 58 cents to $118.73 a
barrel <CLc1>, climbing above a trendline that extended down
from oil's all-time high of $147.27 a barrel hit on July 11.
Tropical Storm Gustav was downgraded from a hurricane this
week but still poses a threat to 85 percent of U.S. offshore
oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, underpinning oil prices.
If Gustav strengthens again and hits the Gulf as a Category
3 hurricane it would be the biggest storm to hit the region's
infrastructure since 2005.
Shell Oil Co <RDSa.L>, which has the largest offshore
operations, said it may begin shutting output as early as
Thursday and expects to evacuate 1,300 workers by Saturday.
ASIA STOCKS LANGUISH NEAR LOWS
Asian equity markets continued to hang around two-year lows
but low trading volumes, summer holidays and mixed corporate
results combined to muddy the near-term direction.
"Investors are unlikely to come back to the market unless
they can see an end to U.S. credit concerns and the global
economic slowdown," said Katsuhiko Kodama, senior strategist at
Toyo Securities in Tokyo.
Japan's Nikkei share average <> was largely unchanged
but close to a five-month low touched last Friday.
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, the world's biggest automaker,
cut its 2009 sales forecast by nearly 7 percent because of
severe slowdown in demand in Western markets. [] The
revised forecast was slightly lower than analysts had expected,
but the company's shares ended unchanged.
Outside of Japan, stocks in the Asia-Pacific region
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> were up 0.5 percent, but within sight of a
17-month low hit last Thursday, according to an MSCI index. The
pan-Asia index <.MIAS00000PUS> was within a point of a two-year
low hit a week ago.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index <> slipped about 1.9
percent, weighed by a 5 percent drop in China Mobile <0941.HK>
shares on an increasingly more competitive outlook for the
world's largest wireless operator.
China's main stock index slipped 0.4 percent <> though
conviction was lacking in just about every sector except
financials, which continue to be a favourite of investors. The
Shanghai composite index is down 52 percent so far this year,
the worst performing market in the world.
"Chinese corporate earnings present a mixed picture.
China's leading banks are producing the highest profits in the
global industry, but the country's refiners, power producers
and property companies are experiencing sharp profit declines,"
said Jing Ulrich, managing director and chairman of China
equities at JPMorgan, in a note to clients.
Australian stocks were big gainers, with the benchmark
S&P/ASX 200 index <> rising more than 1 percent to a
one-month high. Shares of BHP Billiton Ltd <BHP.AX>, the
world's biggest miner, rose 2.5 percent and led the index
higher.
Gold prices, which have tended to trade in the opposite
direction to the U.S. dollar for several weeks, rose 0.8
percent in the spot market <XAU=> to around $832.80 an ounce,
having recovered almost $60 since hitting a 2008 low two weeks
ago.
(Additional reporting by Taiga Uranaka in TOKYO)
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
