SINGAPORE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Asian gasoil prices hit a nine-month high following a spike in underlying crude prices, which in turn weighed down on cash premiums and margins. Gasoil's March and April swaps erased earlier losses and bounced back by $1.15 and $1.31 to $133.75 and $133.53 a barrel, respectively. But gasoil cracks, or its margins over Dubai crude, fell to a four-month low of $16.74. A closed arbitrage to send gasoil from Asia to Europe and a general lack of demand for the grade in the region, are causing a downward momentum on cash premiums, traders said. Formosa sold 300,000 barrels of 500 ppm sulphur gasoil at a premium of about 95 cents a barrel to Sinochem, well below the $1-1.30 a barrel premium the refiner had set for this year's term contracts. "The flat price is too high now, so consumers are reluctant to buy," said a middle distillates trader. A second trader added that buying interest is lower compared to the many sellers available for both the 10 ppm and 500 ppm sulphur diesel, on lack of demand from Europe and within Asia. In China, demand for diesel still remains muted despite the country raising domestic retail prices, an industry source familiar with the market said. But demand could pick up in the second quarter over April to May, especially for high sulphur gasoil, when the agricultural season kicks in, the source added. Meanwhile, jet prices continued to inch upwards, with the price difference between diesel and jet fuel narrowing. But traders said this could be likely due to profit-taking instead of actual demand in the region. "It feels like jet fuel has touched the bottom, but sentiment is still weak," a trader said. Formosa sold 300,000 barrels of jet fuel for loading over March 25-29 to Winson Oil at a premium of 35 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes, 15 cents higher than the premium for a February loading cargo, industry sources said. For exchange of futures for swaps (EFS) curve, click * TENDERS: Taiwan's CPC is offering 7,000 to 12,000 tonnes of 2 percent sulphur gasoil for loading in March. The tender closes on Feb. 20 and is valid until Feb. 22. - Lanka IOC is seeking two combination cargoes of gasoil and gasoline for loading on March 15. The first cargo is for 5,000 tonnes of 0.25 percent sulphur gasoil and 10,000 tonnes of 95-octane gasoline and the second is for 13,000 tonnes of 0.25 percent sulphur and 8,000 tonnes of 90-octane gasoline. The tender closes on Feb. 20 and is valid until Feb. 21. * SWAPS OUTRIGHTS: Gasoil's March and April swaps clawed higher by $1.15 and $1.31 to $133.75 and $133.53 a barrel, respectively. - Jet fuel swaps for March were up $1.44 to $133.31, while March regrade, or the difference between jet and diesel prices, was up 29 cents to minus 44 cents a barrel. * CRACKS: Gasoil's crack for March slipped 23 cents to $16.74 a barrel over Dubai crude, while jet fuel's crack inched up six cents to $16.30 barrel. * EAST-WEST SPREADS: The Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) for February was down $1.93 to minus $13.31 a tonne. * CASH DIFFERENTIALS: Cash premiums for gasoil fell by 10-15 cents across all grades while jet fuel differential remained unchanged at a discount of two cents a barrel over Singapore quotes. * PHYSICAL OUTRIGHTS: Benchmark diesel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5 percent climbed $1.01 to $134.05 a barrel, while jet fuel pushed higher by $1.44 to $133.28 a barrel. * CASH DEALS: No jet deal, two gasoil deals. - Hin Leong lifted Shell's offer of 150,000 barrels of 0.5 percent sulphur gasoil for loading over Mar. 3-7 at a premium of 10 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes. - Hin Leong bought 150,000 barrels of 10 ppm sulphur diesel for loading over Mar. 7-11 from ConocoPhillips at a premium of $2.30 a barrel to Singapore quotes. PRODUCT RIC BID ASK MEAN PREV CHANG % CHANGE E Spot Jet/Kero JET-SIN 133.08 133.48 133.28 131.84 1.44 1.09 Spot Gas Oil 0.5% GO-SIN 133.85 134.25 134.05 133.04 1.01 0.76 Spot Gas Oil 0.25% GO25-SIN 134.94 135.34 135.14 134.02 1.12 0.84 Spot Gas Oil 0.05% GO005-SIN 135.34 135.74 135.54 134.42 1.12 0.83 Spot Gas Oil 0.001% GO10-SIN 135.88 136.28 136.08 135.60 0.48 0.35 Jet/Kero Diff JET-SIN-DIF -0.12 0.08 -0.02 -0.02 0.00 0.00 GO 0.05 Diff GO005-SIN-DIF 1.55 1.75 1.65 1.75 -0.10 -5.71 GO 0.25 Diff GO25-SIN-DIF 1.15 1.35 1.25 1.35 -0.10 -7.41 GO 0.5 Diff GO-SIN-DIF 0.16 0.36 0.26 0.37 -0.11 -29.73 GO 0.001 Diff GO10-SIN-DIF 2.2 2.4 2.30 2.45 -0.15 -6.12 GO Swap Month 1 GOSGSWMc1 133.75 132.60 1.15 0.87 GO Swap Month 2 GOSGSWMc2 133.53 132.22 1.31 0.99 (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Manash Goswami)

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