51.   A government spokesman said import prices had eased further amid soft world commodity prices and slack global demand.

52.   Activity in the oil tanker market was generally calm and prices mostly eased this week, London broking company E.A. Gibson reported in its weekly review published on Friday.

53.   Airline stocks were higher as crude oil prices eased back.

54.   Asian stocks were generally lower Thursday following drop on Wall Street, with Japanese share prices easing marginally, brokers said.

55.   Australian share prices eased slightly Thursday as nervous investors stood back and awaited some direction from the US market, brokers said.

56.   Australian share prices eased slightly Thursday as investors stood on the sidelines and awaited some direction from the US market, brokers said.

57.   But prices then eased back later in the week on a lack of buyer interest as business was reduced by the Thursday close of American markets.

58.   Cocoa prices eased back from three-year high points after a recent market rally ran out of steam.

59.   Copper prices eased slightly, amid caution about the future.

60.   Copper prices eased this week in quiet trading, with dealers nipping off to the sidelines as the notoriously sleepy summer season reached its height.