Oil Set for Weekly Drop as Glut Seen Persisting After OPEC Meet

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Oil headed for the first weekly drop since March amid speculation OPEC will maintain its output target at a meeting on Friday, leaving the market oversupplied.

Futures were little changed in New York, poised for a 4 percent decline through June 5. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will continue its battle to retain market share, according to Maria van der Hoeven, the executive director of the International Energy Agency. The 12-member group is forecast to keep its daily production target of 30 million barrels unchanged at the meeting in Vienna.

Oil recovery from a six-year low has faltered near $60 a barrel amid signs a global glut will persist as rising prices spur a recovery in U.S. output. Saudi Arabia has defended its strategy of favoring market share over supporting prices after leading a group decision in November not to lower OPEC’s target.

West Texas Intermediate for July delivery was unchanged at $58 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:17 a.m. Sydney time. The contract fell $1.64, or 2.8 percent, on Thursday. The volume of all futures traded was about 85 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for July settlement was 9 cents higher at $62.12 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract decreased $1.77, or 2.8 percent, to $62.03 a barrel on Thursday. It’s down 5.3 percent this week, the most in almost three months. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $4.14 to WTI.

Source : Bloomberg

Gold, Silver Decline to Four-Week Lows on Jobs Data, Fed Outlook

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Gold and silver futures fell to four-week lows after a report showed fewer U.S. workers filed jobless claims, fueling concern that a firm labor market keeps the Federal Reserve on pace to raise interest rates this year.

Applications for unemployment benefits decreased by 8,000 to 276,000 in the week ended May 30, a Labor Department report showed Thursday. Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by gold extended losses Wednesday to the lowest since 2009.

The metal erased gains for the year as the jobs data added to signs that the economy is strong enough to sustain higher borrowing costs, paving the way for the Fed to increase its benchmark rate for the first time since 2006. Higher rates erode the appeal of gold, which doesn’t pay interest, as investors seek higher-yielding assets including new bonds.

Gold futures for August delivery fell 0.8 percent to settle at $1,175.20 an ounce at 1:44 p.m. on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the price touched $1,172.40, the lowest for a most-active contract since May 1.

Silver futures for July delivery fell 2.3 percent to $16.103 an ounce. The price touched $16.08, the cheapest since May 1.

Source : Bloomberg

Asian Stocks Retreat for Fifth Day as Greece Delays Debt Payment

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Asian stocks fell for a fifth day, with the regional benchmark index heading for its second week of losses, following a decline in U.S. equities as Greece asked for a deferral on its debt payments.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3 percent to 148.85 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, heading for a 1.7 percent decline this week amid a selloff in bonds and commodities. The Standard & Poor 500 Index dropped on Thursday as raw-material producers slid and Greece became the first country since the 1980s to defer a payment to the International Monetary Fund. While international officials have reported some progress in the talks in recent days, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they were far from reaching a conclusion.

The global bond rout, reignited this week by signs of inflation in the euro area, took a breather on Thursday, with 10-year U.S. Treasuries rising for the first time this week. Germany 10-year bund yields reached almost 1 percent before pulling back to 0.84 percent, while rates from Spain to Italy retreated.

Japan Topix index slipped 0.7 percent. Australia S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.1 percent. New Zealand NZX 50 Index sank 0.4 percent, as did South Korea Kospi index. Markets in China and Hong Kong have yet to open.

Source : Bloomberg

Japan Stocks Join Global Retreat as Greece Defers IMF Payment

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Japanese stocks fell, joining a global retreat, after Greece became the first country to defer a payment to the International Monetary Fund since the 1980s as its game of brinkmanship with creditors goes down to the wire.

The Topix index dropped 0.6 percent to 1,663.62 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, headed for its first weekly loss in a month. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.5 percent to 20,396.35. The MSCI World Index fell to its lowest level in a month after Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras rejected demands his country continue harsh fiscal reforms in exchange for bailout funds and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “we’re still far from reaching a conclusion.”

Greece on Thursday told the IMF it would delay a debt payment of about $339 million due Friday, submitting a request to the fund to bundle payments totaling about $1.7 billion due this month into one lump-sum payment.

Greece also rejected the latest proposal from its international creditors, with the Finance Ministry saying the plan “can’t solve the riddle” and an agreement requires “immediate convergence of the institutions to more realistic” proposals.

E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.1 percent after the underlying measure slumped 0.9 percent to a one-month low on Thursday in New York.

Source : Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Fall Amid Commodities Slide as Greece Delays Payment

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U.S. stocks declined, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reaching a four-week low, as a slide in oil and metals weighed on commodities producers and Greece asked for a deferral on its debt payments.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc., DuPont Co. and fertilizer maker Mosaic Co. lost at least 1.7 percent. Chesapeake Energy Corp. dropped 3.8 percent to lead the energy group lower. Verizon Communications Inc. slid 2 percent after an analyst downgrade. Apparel maker L Brands Inc. added 1.2 percent as May sales exceeded estimates. Wynn Resorts Ltd. jumped 7.2 percent on signs of improvement in Macau’s gambling economy.

The S&P 500 lost 0.9 percent to 2,095.84 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index fell below its average price during the past 50 days, though it’s still within 1.7 percent of its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 170.69 points, or 0.9 percent, to 17,905.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 0.8 percent.