Oil rose to the highest in 29 months in New York as escalating violence in Libya renewed concern that supply disruptions may spread through the Middle East. Crude gained as much as 2.4 percent after fighting between Libyan rebels and troops loyal to Muammar Qaddafi intensified. Hedge funds raised purchases of futures to an all-time high for a second week on speculation cuts will continue. Citigroup (NYSE:C) increased its Brent oil price estimate, saying the threat of more output disruptions supports a “fear premium.” “High oil prices will be sustained over the coming days and weeks because there’s lots of uncertainty about how the situation in the Middle East will develop,” said Sintje Diek, an analyst at HSH Nordbank in Hamburg. “We do not know if riots will spill over to huge oil producers such as Saudi Arabia. There’s no quick solution to this situation.” -Bloomberg
Ciena (NASDAQ:CIEN) shares fell 7.5% to $26.65 in pre-market trades on Monday, after the company reported a wider first-quarter loss of $79.1 million, or 84 cents a share, compared to a loss of $53.3 million, or 58 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Breaking out $24 million in costs related to its purchase of Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Networks unit, Ciena’s adjusted loss increased to 14 cents a share, from 12 cents a share. Revenue rose to $433.3 million, from $175.9 million. Wall Street analysts expected Ciena to report a loss of 16 cents a share, on revenue of $422.5 million. Looking ahead, Ciena said it expects second-quarter revenue of $415 million to $435 million, below the Wall Street target of $439 million. -Marketwatch
In yet another recall from beleaguered Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM), the Japanese automaker is asking owners of about 22,000 trucks and sport-utility vehicles bring them in to have faulty tire pressure monitoring systems repaired, according to a notice posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. Vehicles affected by the recall include the Toyota FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Tacoma and Tundra from the 2008 through 2011 model years. The vehicles affected had Toyota-approved accessory wheels installed by dealers when the vehicles were sold new or at processing centers prior to shipment to dealers. The tire pressure monitoring systems, which have become standard equipment on most cars sold in the U.S. in recent years, may fail to warn drivers when tire pressure has fallen below the level mandated by federal safety standards. -Daily Finance
Most major Asian markets declined Monday as rising oil prices fueled fears about inflation and economic growth, with Japanese and Indian stocks facing added pressure from political setbacks to the respective ruling governments. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 1.8%, South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.2%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gave up 1.4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 0.4%, Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.8% and India’s Sensex sank 1.4%. -The Wall Street Journal
Filed under: 