Oil Settles Lower after Intraday U-turn

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Oil futures staged an intraday U-turn on Thursday, settling lower and giving up a portion of 8% leap seen a day earlier, as doubts over the potential for a production cut among major producers offset earlier support from weakness in the U.S. dollar.

March West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 56 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $31.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had surged earlier to $33.60, which would have marked the highest settlement since Jan. 29.

April Brent crude the global oil benchmark, lost 58 cents, or 1.7% to $34.46 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange, retreating from a high of $35.84.

WTI prices jumped Wednesday despite data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration that showed a bigger-than-expected 7.8 million-barrel weekly increase in crude stockpiles. The increase lifted total U.S. supplies to 502.7 million barrels, the highest weekly level on record, based on EIA data going back to the 1980s.

Source: MarketWatch

Gold Scores Highest Finish since Late October

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Gold futures climbed on Thursday as further weakness in the U.S. dollar and haven demand for the metal lifted prices to their highest settlement level since late October.

April gold added $16.20, or 1.4%, to settle at $1,157.50 an ounce–the highest closing level for futures prices since Oct. 28.

New York Fed President William Dudley on Wednesday hinted that tighter financial conditions could prompt the central bank to delay its next interest-rate hike after signaling that it could act four times this year after its first rate hike in nearly a decade in December. The prospect of lower rates for longer is a boon for gold, which doesn’t offer a yield.

Against that backdrop, the dollar fell Wednesday and extended its losses into Thursday.

Adding to gold’s gains has been mounting fear that more countries will slip into negative interest rates and central banks across the world will loosen policy. That has spurred flight-to-safety bids, particularly into hard assets like gold.

Gold’s sister metal also finished higher for a second straight session on Thursday. March silver picked up 11.6 cents, or 0.8%, to $14.85 an ounce.

Elsewhere on Comex, March high-grade copper ended 3.7 cents, or 1.7%, higher at $2.132 a pound. April platinum gained $26.20, or 3%, at $906.30 an ounce, while March palladium added a nickel to $515.60 an ounce.

Source: MarketWatch

Hong Kong shares end up on energy stocks, weaker U.S. dollar

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Hong Kong stocks rose on Thursday as energy shares surged on a rebound in oil prices, while an overnight tumble in the U.S. dollar eased fears of capital outflows.

The Hang Seng Index rose 1.0 percent, to 19,183.09, while the China Enterprises Index gained 1.5 percent, to 7,974.40 points.

An index trading energy plays jumped 4.6 percent, aided by sharp rises in oil giants PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC.

Sentiment was also aided by a weaker dollar. The dollar index fell to its lowest level in three months.

Source : Reuters

U.S. Stocks Advance as Raw-Materials, Industrial Shares Rally

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U.S. stocks rose for a second day amid a rally in raw-material and industrial shares, as dollar weakness boosted commodity prices and optimism for profits of multinational companies.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent to 1,915.42 at 4 p.m. in New York, after swinging between gains and losses throughout the session.

A steep drop in the dollar sparked equity gains yesterday led by energy and raw-materials, halting the S&P 500’s two-day slide to start the month. The rout in the U.S. currency accelerated after data showed expansion in services industries was the slowest in nearly two years, rekindling worries about the strength of U.S. growth.

Investors are on guard for any signs China weakness is spilling over. A report today showed the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits rose last week, while separate data showed worker productivity slumped in the fourth quarter by the most in almost two years, leading to a pickup in U.S. labor costs that threaten corporate profits.

Source : Bloomberg

Credit Suisse Drags European Stocks Down Even as Miners Surge

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Losses in Credit Suisse Group AG and Daimler AG after earnings announcements dragged European stocks lower, even as commodity producers rallied the most since 2011.

After a day of jumps and slumps, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed down 0.2 percent, dropping for a fourth straight session. Credit Suisse slumped to its lowest price since 1992 after posting its biggest quarterly loss in seven years. Daimler AG fell 3.2 percent after saying growth will slow down. That contrasted with energy and commodity producers, which remained up all day. Even Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which reported a slump in profit, added 4.7 percent.

Fluctuations in the Stoxx 600 mirrored moved in oil. The gauge climbed as much as 1.1 percent and dropped 1.5 percent.

The slowdown in emerging countries is posing a major threat to recovery in the euro area, the European Commission said today, as it trimmed its 2016 growth forecast for the 19-nation region and warned inflation would be much slower than expected. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney cited similar concerns. In a speech in Frankfurt, Mario Draghi said the fact that inflation is weak globally won’t stop the European Central Bank from adding stimulus for the euro area if needed.

Among other stocks moving on earnings, ING Groep NV jumped 8.9 percent as quarterly profit beat estimates. AstraZeneca Plc lost 6.1 percent after forecasting a decline in earnings and sales for the year. Swisscom AG dropped 2.9 percent after annual net income missed projections.

Source : Bloomberg