Oil Extends Slump Before OPEC as Japan Stocks Drop With Dollar

---

Crude oil dropped a third day, extending losses from a four-year low amid concern OPEC members may fail to agree on output cuts when they meet in Austria this week. Japanese stocks retreated as Asian currencies, including the yen, strengthened against the dollar.

West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.3 percent to $73.87 a barrel by 9:28 a.m. in Tokyo, after sinking 2.2 percent last session to the lowest price since September 2010. Japans Topix index dropped 0.1 percent from a six-year high, as the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.1 percent amid a rebound in Australian equities. The yen climbed a second day, while the Korean won and Malaysian ringgit added at least 0.2 percent. Standard & Poors 500 Index futures were little changed after the gauge fell from a record following three days of gains.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna tomorrow, after talks between Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Russia failed to produce an agreement on cutting supplies amid sliding oil prices. Japan reports on small-business confidence today, and the U.K. updates on gross domestic product. The U.S. posts durable goods after an unexpected drop in consumer confidence offset data showing the economy capped its strongest six months in a decade last quarter.

Source: Bloomberg

Gold Futures Climb as U.S. Dollar Falls From Five-Year High

---

Gold futures gained for the second time in three sessions as the dollar fell from a five-year high, boosting demand for the metal as an alternative investment.

The dollar lost as much as 0.2 against a basket of 10 currencies after touching the highest since March 2009. Bullion slid earlier after a government report showed the U.S. economy expanded more than expected, damping demand for the metal as a store of value.

Gold has fallen 14 percent from a 2014 high, and global holdings in exchange-traded products backed by the metal last week slumped to the lowest since May 2009, amid gains in the dollar on an improving U.S. economy. Faster growth supports the Federal Reserves decision last month to stop buying debt as policy makers monitor economic progress while deciding when to raise interest rates for the first time in eight years.

Gold futures for February delivery rose 0.1 percent to settle at $1,197.80 an ounce on the Comex at 1:40 p.m. in New York. The metal slid as much as 0.6 percent earlier. Bullion posted two straight weekly gains through Nov. 21 amid central bank action from China to Japan to Europe to boost growth.

U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 3.9 percent annualized rate in the third quarter, capping the strongest six months in a decade and topping the 3.3 percent estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists, a government report showed today.

Source: Bloomberg

Asian Stocks Rise for Fourth Day as Materials Shares Lead Gains

---

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for a fourth day of gains, as materials and health-care shares advanced, countering a decline in Japans Topix index amid a stronger yen.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.1 percent to 140.90 as of 9:03 a.m. in Tokyo after rising 1.1 percent the past three trading days. Japans Topix slid 0.3 percent as the yen gained 0.1 percent to 117.81 per dollar after advancing 0.3 percent yesterday. U.S. stocks slipped from a record as a drop in consumer confidence offset faster economic expansion.

South Koreas Kospi index climbed 0.1 percent. Australias S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.9 percent, while New Zealands NZX 50 Index increased 0.3 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poors 500 Index were little changed today. The measure declined 0.1 percent yesterday. Consumer confidence in the U.S. declined to a five-month low in November, to a level that was weaker than the most pessimistic estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Gross domestic product rose at a 3.9 percent annualized rate in the third quarter, up from an initial estimate of 3.5 percent.

West Texas Intermediate crude reached the lowest level in more than four years after nations supplying a third of the worlds oil failed to pledge output cuts before tomorrows OPEC meeting.

Futures on Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index each lost 0.1 percent in their most recent trading session.

Japan’s Topix Index Retreats From 6-Year High as Yen Strengthens

---

Japanese stocks fell, with the Topix index retreating from a six-year high, as the yen maintained gains against the dollar. Paper manufacturers led declines and drug companies rose.

The Topix lost 0.2 percent to 1,406.23 as of 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo, with eight stocks falling for every six that rose, after closing yesterday the highest level since June 2008. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 0.3 percent to 17,360.21 today. The yen traded at 117.81 per dollar, after strengthening as much as 0.5 percent yesterday.

The Topix gained the past five trading days as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a December election, scuppering plans for a second increase in Japans sales tax after data showed Asias second-largest economy is in recession. The Bank of Japan last week kept a pledge to expand the monetary base at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen ($676 billion).

Source: Bloomberg

S&P 500 Little Changed Near Record on GDP, Consumer Confidence

---

The Standard & Poors 500 Index was little changed after closing yesterday at a record, as data showing the economy expanded more than previously forecast in the third quarter was offset by a drop in consumer confidence.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 2,067.48 at 4 p.m. in New York, following three days of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 6.13 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to an all-time high of 17,848.21. The Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies dropped 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 Index extended a 14-year high.

Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 3.9 percent annualized rate, up from an initial estimate of 3.5 percent, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 3.3 percent gain. After the 4.6 percent increase in the second quarter, it marked the biggest back-to-back advance since late 2003.

The Conference Boards consumer confidence index fell to 88.7 in November from 94.1 a month earlier, the New York-based private research group said today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a gain to 96.

Source : Bloomberg