Oil settles under $37 for first time since the recession

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Oil prices settled under $37 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since 2009, after data from the Organization of the Petroleum Countries’ report showed that the group increased its crude production in November to its highest monthly level in three years.

Natural-gas futures, meanwhile, ended with a loss after a U.S. government report showed that supplies fell more than expected last week, but total stocks remained well above the year-ago level.On the New York Mercantile Exchange, January West Texas Intermediate crude shed 40 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $36.76 a barrel. That was the lowest settlement for a most-active contract since February 2009 and prices have now extended their losing streak to a fifth straight session.

January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange slipped 38 cents, or 1%, to $39.73 a barrel.

OPEC’s monthly report revealed total production rose in November by 230,100 barrels a day from October, to 31.695 million barrels a day, largely due to higher output from Iraq.

But the cartel cut its 2016 estimates for non-OPEC output by 250,000 barrels a day to average 57.14 million barrels a day, noting that U.S. shale-oil production has been falling since April. OPEC said that process should speed up, notably due to the sharp fall in oil prices.

The OPEC report was the first since the cartel last week decided to essentially raise its production ceiling to 31.5 million barrels of oil a day, to reflect the “current actual production,” a move that sent oil prices tumbling.

Source: MarketWatch

Gold ends lower as bearish sentiment takes hold

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Gold futures ended lower Thursday, bucking a trend that has seen the precious metal record modest back-to-back gains, as investors grew more wary ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting next week.

February gold shed $4.50, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,072 an ounce. Prices edged higher over the past two trading sessions. So far this month, the metal has now seen an equal number of up days as down days.

The gold often trades opposite the direction the dollar, as a strong dollar raises the cost of buying the metal for investors using other currencies.

Market participants say gold prices had been lifted in recent sessions by recent weakness in the dollar compared with the euro % The euro climbed after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi disappointed markets last Thursday when he failed to deliver a more expansive stimulus package than the market was expecting.

Still, expectations that the Fed will decide to hike interest rates at the conclusion of its meeting this Wednesday has been growing, keeping sentiment on gold mainly bearish.

Higher interest rates increase the cost of storing commodities, and make them less attractive for investors seeking better returns across assets. Higher rates can also boost the dollar, which would make dollar-denominated gold even less attractive.

On Thursday, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index headed higher, weighing gold prices, but it’s still down about 0.3% for the week so far.

Meanwhile, March silver lost 7.9 cents, or 0.6%, to finish at $14.11 an ounce. March copper tacked on less than a penny to $2.073 a pound. January platinum shed $9.90, or 1.1%, to $855.90 an ounce and March palladium fell $10.10, or 1.8%, to $542.25 an ounce.

Source: MarketWatch

U.S. Stocks Rise as Energy Advances, Airlines Boost Industrials

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U.S. stocks rose to halt a three-day slide, as beaten-down energy shares climbed for a second session from their lowest level since September and airlines led transportation companies off a three-month low.

Weakness in energy and industrial shares has helped restrain equities from any meaningful advance since the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reached a more than three-month high in early November. Airlines boosted industrials today, while Chevron Corp. added 1.9 percent to bolster energy after cutting its 2016 spending plans.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 2,052.26 at 4 p.m. in New York, near its average price during the past 50 days after earlier rising as much as 1 percent. The gauge remains on track for its first weekly decline in four.

With the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting meeting less than a week away, the S&P 500’s performance this December is proving an exception to the historical trend for the month -- typically the strongest for global equities. An early rally fizzled yesterday as Apple Inc. paced technology-share declines, while renewed worries about the pace of global growth erased all the benchmark index’s 2015 gains.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen has recently signaled the economy is ready for higher borrowing costs. Still, investors are caught between optimism about U.S. growth and concern that a slowdown in China and the consequent tumble in commodities will damp global growth prospects. Oil prices hovered near six-year lows Thursday after OPEC said crude output rose to the highest in more than three years in November.

Source : Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Pare Gains as Energy Trims Rise, Crude Extends Drop

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U.S. stocks trimmed their gains after oil prices weakened further, blunting an advance among energy companies as equities have struggled for direction before next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting.

Weakness in energy and industrial shares have helped keep equities from making any meaningful advance since the benchmark reached a more than three-month high in early November. Airlines boosted industrials today, while Chevron Corp. added 2.1 percent after cutting its 2016 spending plans.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to 2,052.72 at 12:38 p.m. in New York, paring an earlier 0.8 percent climb. Gains lost momentum at the index’s 200-day moving average. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 65.11 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,557.41, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 percent.

With the Fed’s rate-setting meeting less than a week away, the S&P 500’s performance this December is proving an exception to the historical trend for the month -- typically the strongest for global equities. An early rally fizzled yesterday as Apple Inc. paced technology-share declines, while renewed worries about the pace of global growth erased all the benchmark index’s 2015 gains.

Source : Bloomberg

Europe Stocks at 7-Week Low While Glencore Leads Miners Gains

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A rally in commodity producers failed to lift sentiment in European stocks, which closed lower for a third day.

The region’s shares extended their lowest levels since Oct. 21, with retailers Ocado Group Plc and Sports Direct International Plc plunging after reporting financial results that missed projections. Glencore Plc, on the other hand, jumped 7 percent as the Swiss commodities trader pledged to cut debt further, scale back operations and sell more assets.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.3 percent at the close of trading in London, after earlier falling as much as 0.9 percent. It’s heading for a second week of losses for the first time in two months. Commodity producers climbed for a second day after hitting their lowest levels since 2009.

European equities lost 5.8 percent from their three-month high in November as commodity producers kept on sliding and the European Central Bank’s added stimulus fell short of expectations. The Stoxx 600 closed 12 percent below its April record.

The benchmark index had rebounded as much as 14 percent from a low in September through Nov. 30 in anticipation of the extended ECB measures and on optimism that the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand an increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The U.S. central bank will give its decision on Dec. 16, and traders are pricing in a 80 percent chance of a liftoff.

Source: Bloomberg