Oil ends at 2-month low dogged by demand worries

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Oil prices ended in the red on Monday with lingering concerns over a global supply glut and weakening demand pushing prices to their lowest settlement in roughly two months.

Natural-gas prices meanwhile, dropped for a fourth trading day in a row, losing nearly 10% for the session to hold ground at their lowest level since 2012.

December West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 62 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $43.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Aug. 27, based on the most-active contracts, according to FactSet. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange shed 45 cents, or 0.9%, to $47.54 a barrel.

Excess supplies have been weighing on oil prices since the summer of 2014. Oil prices have dropped by more than half since then, but the market is watching for signs of lower output.

Source: MarketWatch

Gold Gains for First Time in Four Sessions as Dollar Weakens

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Gold snapped the longest slump in three weeks as the dollar weakened, boosting the appeal of the metal as an alternative investment.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell, ending the longest rally since January, as traders awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on whether to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade. Policy makers meet this week, and traders put the odds of a rate rise by December at 36 percent. Higher rates curb the appeal of gold because it doesn’t offer yields or interest.

Gold is heading for its biggest monthly gain since January as signs of uneven U.S. growth and faltering expansions abroad spur speculation that the Fed will wait for more assurance that the economy can withstand tighter monetary policy. Bullion extended gains after a government report Monday showed purchases of new U.S. homes slumped in September to a 10-month low.

Gold futures for December delivery rose 0.3 percent to settle at $1,166.20 an ounce at 1:50 p.m. on the Comex in New York, ending three straight declines in the longest slump since Oct. 1. Trading on Monday was 38 percent below the 100-day average for this time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Silver futures for December delivery gained 0.5 percent to $15.905 an ounce on the Comex. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, palladium futures for December delivery dropped 1.4 percent to $683.90 an ounce, while platinum futures for January delivery slid 0.4 percent to $997.50 an ounce.

Source: Bloomberg

Asia Stocks Slip From Two-Month High as Investors Await Fed, BOJ

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Asian stocks fell, with the regional benchmark index retreating from its highest in two months, as energy shares led losses and investors awaited policy decisions by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan later in the week.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.1 percent to 136.31 as of 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo after closing Monday at the highest since Aug. 18. The decisions on monetary policy come after China cut its lending rate last week and European officials signaled a willingness to add stimulus to combat flagging growth. The odds the Fed will raise rates at the end of their two-day policy meeting on Wednesday are slim, with traders seeing a 6 percent chance. Economists are divided on whether the BOJ will supplement already unprecedented easing on Friday.

Japan’s Topix index slipped 0.1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index added 0.5 percent. Markets in China and Hong Kong have yet to start trading.

The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.5 percent on Monday after the central bank cut interest rates for a sixth time in a year as the nation’s leaders gather this week to map out a five-year plan for the world’s second-largest economy. The Shanghai gauge has rebounded 17 percent from this year’s low on Aug. 26 as the government took measures to stabilize the stock market after a $5 trillion rout and policy makers introduced more measures to boost growth amid the slowest economic expansion in a quarter of a century.

Source: Bloomberg

Japanese Stocks Fluctuate Ahead of Fed, BOJ Meetings, Earnings

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Japanese stocks swung between gains and losses as investors awaited a rush of company earnings and policy updates from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan later this week. Steelmakers fell and retailers led gains.

The Topix index slipped 0.1 percent to 1,558.01 as of 9:04 a.m. in Tokyo, swinging from a gain of less than 0.1 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was little changed at 18,940.20. The yen traded at 120.93 per dollar, strengthening for a second day.

The Fed announces its rate decision on Wednesday, with futures traders pricing in just a 6 percent possibility of an increase. Expectation are higher for action in Japan when the BOJ meets on Friday, with 16 of 36 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg forecasting the central bank will bolster monetary policy.

Friday also marks the busiest day of the Japanese earnings season, with more than 300 companies expected to file results, including NTT Docomo Inc. and Japan Airlines Co. Companies reporting Tuesday after the close include robot-maker Fanuc Corp. and camera-maker Canon Inc.

E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed after the underlying gauge slipped 0.2 percent on Monday following four weeks of gains. The index is on track for its best month since 2011 after surging 11 percent from its August low.

Source:Bloomberg

U.S. Shares Slip Before Batch of Earnings, Fed Policy Meeting

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A rally in U.S. shares stalled Monday, as investors assessed recent gains before the latest batch of earnings and a Federal Reserve meeting, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipping from a nine-week high.

Technology and energy, two industries that have driven much of the benchmark’s gains as it heads toward its best month in four years, retreated today. Apple Inc. lost 3.2 percent to weigh on tech, as supplier Dialog Semiconductor Plc’s sales and outlook missed analysts’ estimates. Apple is Dialog’s biggest customer. Chevron Corp. fell 2.7 percent with crude oil sinking to a two-month low.

The S&P 500 declined 0.2 percent to 2,071.03 at 4 p.m. in New York, after last week erasing its losses for the year.

Pfizer Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Apple Inc. are among more than 160 S&P 500 companies reporting earnings this week. Analysts project profits at the index’s members dropped 6.1 percent in the third quarter, with energy and materials companies showing the steepest decline.

Two months after the first correction since 2011 broke a yearlong calm in U.S. equities, the S&P 500 is on the march again, bringing its gain from its August low to 11 percent, and within 3 percent of its all-time high set in May. Microsoft Corp., Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. surged on Friday, adding more than $80 billion in combined market value on strong earnings reports.

Source : Bloomberg