Gold Declines for Third Day as Dollar Stabilizes, Hurting Demand

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Gold dropped for a third day as the dollar stabilized after a slump sparked by the Federal Reserve paring its interest-rate outlook for 2016.

Bullion for immediate delivery declined as much as 0.4 percent to $1,250.99 an ounce and was at $1,251.60 at 9:50 a.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal fell a combined 0.6 percent on Thursday and Friday.

Gold has risen 18 percent this year, buoyed by speculation that the Fed wouldn’t actually boost rates by the four times that policy makers signaled at the end of 2015. Last week, projections from the central bank implied just two quarter-point increases this year, sparking a sell-off in the U.S. currency. Gold was trading lower on Monday following a recovery in the dollar, according to David Lennox, an analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney.

Source : Bloomberg

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Oil Extends Drop as Dollar Stabilizes While Asian Stocks Advance

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Crude oil fell, extending declines below $40 a barrel as the dollar reasserted itself following last week’s selloff and data showed the first increase this year in the U.S. rig count. Most Asian stocks climbed with markets in Japan closed for a holiday.

West Texas Intermediate oil neared $39, extending losses from Friday that knocked the Bloomberg Commodity Index from a three-month high. The New Zealand dollar weakened with the Canadian and South African currencies, while the Korean won snapped a two-day advance after the greenback halted a slump on Friday that was sparked by the Federal Reserve paring its interest-rate outlook for 2016. Shares from Australia to South Korea climbed with index futures in Hong Kong and China signaling further gains. Gold held losses.

WTI futures fell 1 percent to $39.06 a barrel as of 9:12 a.m. Tokyo time, after sliding 1.9 percent on Friday to trim its fifth straight weekly advance to 2.4 percent. Brent crude lost 0.2 percent to $41.11 after falling 0.8 percent at the end of last week.

Source : Bloomberg

China Stocks Head for Longest Winning Streak in 10 Months

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China’s stocks rose for a seventh day, sending the benchmark index toward its longest stretch of gains since May, after policy makers loosened controls on margin lending.

The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.8 percent, led by brokerages and technology companies. China Securities Finance Corp., the state-backed agency that provides funding to brokerages for margin trading, said late Friday it will restart offering loans to securities firms for periods ranging from 7 days to 182 days. Citic Securities Co. advanced to the highest level in two months.

Source : Bloomberg

Asian stocks ease as investors wary after oil drops

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Asian stocks took a step back on Monday after three consecutive weeks of gains as a retreat in oil prices left investors in a ponderous mood about the health of the global economy.

The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index declined 0.4 percent to 412.76 as of 9:35 a.m. in Hong Kong.  Japanese markets are closed for a holiday. More than $4 trillion has been added to the value of global equities this month as stimulus efforts from central banks couple with an oil-driven rally in commodities to burnish investor sentiment.

The wobbles in the oil market, and general downturn in commodities combined with cooling growth in China, have rattled financial markets in recent months. Fears about the outlook for global growth was also instrumental in the Federal Reserve last week indicating a slower path to future rate increases.

With Japan closed for a holiday, Antipodean markets were broadly mixed in morning trade with New Zealand up slightly and Australia easing 0.1 percent.

Source : Reuters

Hong Kong shares end higher, gain 2.3 pct on week

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Hong Kong shares rose on Friday, buoyed by gains in mainland China shares which were boosted by easing fears of capital outflows as the dollar weakened.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.8 percent to 20,671.63 points, while the China Enterprises Index gained 1.2 percent to 8,883.01.

Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 2.2 billion shares.

For the week, the Hang Seng was up 2.3 percent.

Source : reuters