Brent Crude Oil Falls Below $30 for First Time Since April 2004

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Brent oil dropped below $30 a barrel for the first time since April 2004 on speculation Iranian shipments will soon climb.

Crude fell as much as 2.9 percent in London on signs that the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers may be implemented by the time markets open on Monday, triggering sanctions relief for the Islamic Republic that paves the way for a surge in oil exports. It will add 500,000 barrels a day of exports within a week of the removal of sanctions and 1 million within six months, Roknoddin Javadi, head of National Iranian Oil Co. said last month, according to the Shana news agency.

Brent oil slipped 63 cents, or 2 percent, to $30.23 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract touched $29.96, the lowest since April 2004.

West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery rose 4 cents to settle at $30.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. benchmark crude was at a 25-cent premium to Brent, up from 42 cent discount at Tuesday’s close.

Source: Bloomberg

Silver, Gold Advance on Bets Fed Will Raise Rates at Slower Pace

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Silver futures gained the most in four weeks amid speculation that the Federal Reserve may slow the pace of increases for U.S. interest rates, boosting the metal’s appeal as a store of value. Gold also gained.

Silver futures for March delivery gained 2.9 percent to settle at $14.156 an ounce at 1:49 p.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices are up 2.6 percent since the start of the year.

Gold futures for February delivery added 0.2 percent to $1,087.10 an ounce, erasing losses of as much as 0.5 percent.

While gold prices have declined this week, investors are still buying the metal through exchange-traded products. ETP holdings rose 4.9 metric tons to a six-week high of 1,482.7 tons as of Tuesday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The assets rose for a fourth day, the longest stretch since October.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, palladium futures for March delivery climbed 3.6 percent to $486.65 an ounce, while platinum futures for April delivery rose 1.5 percent to $851.30 an ounce.

Source: Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Tumble as Risk Flight Intensifies, Brent Oil Sinks

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U.S. stocks tumbled, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging more than 370 points and small caps entering a bear market, as oil’s failure to maintain a 4 percent rally rekindled a flight from risk assets. Treasuries surged amid signs that demand for the relative safety of bonds is rising.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell past 1,900, a level it’s closed below only five times in the past 14 months. The Nasdaq 100 Index had its worst day since Aug. 24, as selling was heaviest in technology and consumer shares. The Russell 2000 Index capped a 22 percent slide from its June record. Brent crude dipped below $30 for the first time since 2004. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.04 percent, after an auction of $21 billion of 10-year notes was deemed ‘outstanding.’ Gold traded above $1,090 an ounce.

The S&P 500 sank 2.5 percent at 4 p.m. in New York, the lowest level since Sept. 29. Shares in consumer discretionary shares plunged 3.4 percent with losses heaviest in Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. Health-care shares sank 2.9 percent, while financial services stocks in the S&P 500 fell to the lowest level since May 2014.

The SPDR Barclays High-Yield Bond exchange-traded fund lost 1.3 percent for its biggest slide since Dec. 11, and is now at the lowest level since May 2009. Selling in junk-rated equities intensified as the continued rout in commodities threatens the solvency of some highly leveraged resource producers.

Damage was heaviest among small-cap shares, with the Russell 2000 plunging to 2 1/2 year low. The gauge is down 22 percent from its June record, meeting the common definition of a bear market.

According to JPMorgan Chase & Co., this year’s tumble is at least partly attributable to robotic selling by quantitative investors who were forced to rebalance their funds when stocks and bonds both fell in January.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index climbed 11 percent to 24.93, after posting its first back-to-back weekly gains since July to start the year.

Source: Bloomberg

Europe Stocks Rise for 2nd Day as Miners, Energy Shares Rebound

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European stocks clung to their first back-to-back gains in almost a month, after giving up much of an earlier rally in the final two hours.

Energy companies posted the best performance on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, even after trimming some gains on a report showing an increase in crude inventories. Commodity producers rebounded from a 12-year low, with Rio Tinto Group and Randgold Resources Ltd. rising at least 1.5 percent.

The Stoxx 600 added 0.4 percent at the close of trading. It rallied as much as 1.9 percent earlier amid better-than-forecast Chinese trade data, before briefly erasing gains as oil headed lower.

European stocks are climbing after concern that turmoil in China’s markets would hamper global growth drove them to the worst-ever start to a year. The Euro Stoxx 50 Index tumbled 7.2 percent last week.

In the past seven years, every time the euro-area gauge has fallen more than 7 percent in a week, it has rallied 16 percent on average in the subsequent three months. Investors are less sure of a repeat performance this time, as they worry about global growth amid higher U.S. interest rates. Antonin Jullier, Citigroup Inc.’s global head of equity trading strategy, recommends buying the region’s equities after recent lows and riding the rebound before cashing in.

Source: Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Halt Global Equities Rally as Oil Advance Falters

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U.S. stocks halted a two-day advance as a rally in crude faltered and Treasuries erased losses, providing a fresh signal that China-fueled turmoil on financial markets has yet to fully subside.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended declines after European markets closed modestly higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.09 percent, while gold erased losses to trade above $1,090 an ounce. Oil was little changed at $30.50 a barrel. Emerging-market rose after closing at the lowest level in six years, while Asian stocks rebounded from a three-year low on Chinese trade data.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent at 12:04 p.m. in New York, with losses extending after Europe’s markets closed at 11:30 a.m. The gauge opened higher by as much as 0.6 percent. It’s now down more than 5.5 percent this year after slipping 0.7 percent in 2015.

Source: Bloomberg