Gold Futures Market Fifth Straight Session Decline

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Gold futures settled lower for a fifth session in a row on Thursday, as traders tracked discussions about a debt deal for Greece that appeared to be increasingly unlikely to materialize ahead of a deadline at the end of the month.

Gold for August delivery on Comex  fell $1.10, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,171.80 an ounce. Tracking the most-active contracts, that was the fifth straight session of losses and prices stand at their lowest settlement since June 5.

September silver  declined by 4.9 cents, or 0.3%, at $15.841 an ounce.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Thursday met with heads of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, which oversee Greece’s bailout, to agree on a reform plan to present to the Eurogroup. The International Monetary Fund said Greece would be immediately be in arrears if it fails to make a $1.7 billion debt repayment due June 30.

The dollar  Thursday, however, was little changed against its major rivals following better-than-expected economic reports. Fresh readings on U.S.weekly jobless claims and consumer spending roughly matched the expectations of economists polled by MarketWatch.

In other metals trade, October platinum tacked on $9.20, or 0.9%, to $1,083.70 an ounce, while September palladium slumped by $16.35, or 2.4%, to $679.35 an ounce.

Source : MarketWatch

USD/JPY sidelined near 123.60

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The greenback is markedly lower vs. its Japanese counterpart on Thursday, with USD/JPY now consolidating around 123.60.

The pair has broken down the key support at 124.00 and is now meandering the 123.60 area, amidst a confusing scenario in Greece in light of the Eurogroup meeting.

Next of relevance in the pair will be US Initial Claims, Markit’s Services PMI, PCE and Personal Income/Spending. On the Japanese side, critical inflation figures gauged by the CPI are due on early Friday followed by the jobless rate and Overall Household Spending.

Source : Fx Street

U.S. Stocks Fall as Energy Retreat Overshadows Hospitals Rally

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U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index below its average price for the past 50 days, as a drop in energy shares overshadowed a rally in health-care while investors watched for a breakthrough in Greek debt talks.

The S&P 500 Index slipped 0.3 percent to 2,102.43 at 4 p.m. in New York, falling for a second day.

The S&P 500 is headed for a ninth week without a move of more than 1 percent, the longest streak since August 1993, churning in a tight range as investors await a resolution to the Greek crisis while assessing data for clues on the timing of any Federal Reserve interest-rate increase.

French President Francois Hollande held out the prospect of a deal for Greece even as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said negotiations looked to be going backward.

The contrast in tone from the heads of Europe’s two biggest economies reflected the frustration among leaders and finance ministers after days of talks in Brussels failed to yield a breakthrough. Finance chiefs will reconvene on Saturday for their fifth session on Greece in just over a week.

Source: Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Fluctuate Amid Hospital Shares Rally, Greek Talks

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U.S. stocks fluctuated, after the biggest drop in three weeks, as health-care shares rallied on a U.S. Supreme Court decision while investors watched for a breakthrough in Greek debt talks.

HCA Holdings Inc., Tenet Healthcare Corp. and Universal Health Services Inc. jumped at least 7.5 percent after the Supreme Court upheld the nationwide tax subsidies that are a core component of President Barack Obama’s health-care law. Eli Lilly & Co. rose 4.2 percent after a favorable patent ruling. Netflix Inc. lost 2.7 percent, and energy shares slipped with oil.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.1 percent to 2,111.54 at 12:16 p.m. in New York. The gauge fell 0.7 percent Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14.61 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,980.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.2 percent.

The S&P 500 is headed for a ninth week without a move of more than 1 percent, the longest streak since August 1993, as investors await a resolution to the Greek crisis while assessing data for clues on the timing of any Federal Reserve interest-rate increase.

Source: Bloomberg

Europe Stocks Drop Second Day as Greek Groundhog Day Continues

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European stocks extended a selloff as the region’s leaders differed on how Greek talks were progressing.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.2 percent to 396.39 at the close of trading. French President Francois Hollande held out hope of a deal for Greece, while his German counterpart said negotiations looked to be going backward. The Greek ASE Index added 0.1 percent, after swinging between gains and losses at least 11 times.

Stocks rose as much as 0.5 percent earlier, reversing a drop of 0.8 percent, after creditor institutions unanimously agreed on a set of proposals for finance ministers to review. They pared gains as Greece disagreed. Euro-area finance ministers are now weighing competing proposals to resolve the standoff, with Greece facing both an expiry of its current bailout package and a loan repayment deadline on June 30.

News flow from the negotiations has whipsawed stocks in recent days. While the Euro Stoxx 50 Index posted its best four-day gain since 2012 earlier this week on speculation Greece was close to an agreement, it fell yesterday as the optimism faded. The gauge fluctuated before closing almost unchanged Thursday.

Among shares active on corporate news, Hennes & Mauritz AB fell 3.2 percent after its quarterly gross margin and profit missed analysts’ estimates. Vallourec SA tumbled 5.8 percent after Credit Suisse Group AG downgraded the steelmaker to underperform, similar to sell.

Tesco Plc rose 0.9 percent as people familiar with the matter said it has received bids for its South Korean unit from private-equity firms including Carlyle Group LP and KKR & Co. Altice SA rallied 6 percent after a report said Bouygues SA remains open to a new offer from the company’s Numericable-SFR unit.

Petrofac Ltd. climbed 4.2 percent after Nomura Holdings Inc. recommended buying the shares, citing potential for shareholder returns. The company is heading for its best week since 2010 after saying profit may be heavily weighted toward the second half of the year.

Source : Bloomberg