Gold Holds Near Five-Year Low as Fed Minutes Bolster Rate View

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Gold remained near its five-year low after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting reinforced the outlook for an interest-rate increase next month.

Bullion for immediate delivery rose 0.3 percent to $1,073.75 at 8:18 a.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal tumbled to $1,064.55 on Wednesday, the lowest since February 2010.

Gold is headed for a third annual loss on rising expectations that U.S. growth will lead policy makers to raise borrowing costs, curbing the appeal of gold because it doesn’t pay interest. In the statement following their October meeting, Fed policy makers made it clear that they’d consider a rate rise at their next meeting over Dec. 15-16. Central bankers stressed that “it may well become appropriate” to raise the benchmark lending rate in December, according to the minutes released Wednesday.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback versus 10 peers, retreated 0.2 percent on Thursday after reaching the highest level in more than a decade the previous day. Bullion, which tends to move counter to the dollar, is 9.2 percent lower in 2015 versus a dollar gain of 9.1 percent.

Source: Bloomberg

Oil Trades Near Two-Month Low After U.S. Crude Supplies Increase

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Oil was little changed in New York after falling below $40 a barrel for the first time since August as producers’ output swelled global inventories to a record.

U.S. crude stockpiles climbed to 487.3 million barrels last week, the highest for this time of year since 1930, government data show. Oil inventories have expanded to almost 3 billion barrels because of growing output in OPEC and elsewhere, the International Energy Agency said in a report on Friday.

Crude has dropped by almost half in the past year as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped above its collective quota and Russian output rose to a post-Soviet high, outpacing demand growth. Iran is pushing to regain oil sales lost to sanctions after agreeing in July to accept limits on its nuclear work in return for market access.

WTI for December delivery gained 8 cents to settle at $40.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures dropped as much as 1.9 percent to $39.91 earlier, the lowest intraday price since Aug. 27. The volume of all futures traded was 21 percent above the 100-day average.

Brent for January settlement rose 57 cents, or 1.3 percent, to end the session at $44.14 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude closed at a $2.19 premium to January WTI.

Source: Bloomberg

Asian Stocks Rise on Fed Minutes as Investors Await BOJ Decision

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Asian stocks rose, following a rally in U.S. shares, after minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting showed policy makers’ faith in the world’s biggest economy, with officials saying the pace of any rate increases will be gradual.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.7 percent to 132.47 as of 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo. Through Wednesday, the gauge rallied 8.6 percent from a two-year low in September as investors prepare for the first U.S. interest-rate increase since 2006. In the statement following their October gathering, Fed policy makers made it clear that a rise would be considered at the Dec. 15-16 meeting.

Japan’s Topix index advanced 0.9 percent after the yen weakened against the dollar for a third day on Wednesday. All 41 economists in a Nov. 13-17 Bloomberg poll predict no change at the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting ending on Thursday. Forty-six percent of respondents don’t expect the BOJ to boost its current pace of asset purchases -- up from 33 percent last month.

Source: Bloomberg

Japanese Stocks Advance on Weaker Yen Before BOJ Policy Decision

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Japanese shares advanced, led by airlines and insurers, after the yen slid to a three-month low against the dollar and as investors awaited a central bank policy decision.

The Topix index gained 0.9 percent to 1,600.41 at 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, climbing above 1,600 for the first time since August. The yen traded at 123.50 per dollar. U.S. stocks jumped Wednesday as the Federal Reserve published minutes of its October meeting, which stressed the pace of any rate increases will be gradual. Economists expect the Bank of Japan to maintain its stimulus at the conclusion of its policy meeting Thursday.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1 percent to 19,842.81 Thursday.

Fed officials inserted language into their October statement to stress that “it may well become appropriate” to raise borrowing costs in December and largely agreed that the pace of increases would be gradual, minutes of their meeting showed.

Source: Bloomberg

Asia Index Futures Signal Rally on Fed Optimism; Yen Holds Drop

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Equity-index futures signaled gains across Asia after Federal Reserve meeting minutes reaffirmed policy makers’ faith in the world’s biggest economy and stressed the pace of any rate increases will be gradual. The yen held near a three-month low against the dollar.

Contracts on stock gauges from Sydney to Seoul and Tokyo advanced, following the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s biggest jump in almost a month. Japan’s currency was at 123.62 per dollar, down 2 percent this month, before a decision from the nation’s central bank, with economists expecting no change to policy settings. Fed officials inserted language into their October statement to stress that “it may well become appropriate” to raise borrowing costs in December and largely agreed that the pace of increases would be gradual, minutes of their meeting showed.

Asian stocks and currencies have slipped this year amid investor concern about whether the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand what would be the first rate increase since 2006, and the impact such a move would have on the global growth outlook. Economic reports since the Fed refrained from a rate rise in October have been encouraging, with payrolls logging the biggest gain this year and unemployment falling to 5 percent. There’s a 66 percent probability that policy makers will move in December, according to futures data compiled by Bloomberg.

Futures on South Korea’s Kospi 200 Index climbed 0.6 percent in most recent trading, as contracts on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Hang Seng China Enterprises indexes advanced at least 0.4 percent. Those on the FTSE China A50 Index were up 0.6 percent.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index, the first stock gauge to start trading each day in the Asia-Pacific region, added 0.1 percent.

Japanese index futures signaled more gains for the nation’s equities, with contracts on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average gaining 0.7 percent in Osaka.

Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who unleashed unprecedented monetary stimulus at the Bank of Japan in 2013 and doubled down on it last year, is done expanding his efforts, according to an increasing number of economists. Forty-six percent of respondents in a Nov. 13-17 Bloomberg poll didn’t expect the BOJ to boost its current pace of asset purchases -- up from 33 percent last month. All 41 economists predicted no change at the BOJ’s policy meeting ending on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg