Oil Resumes Drop as Iran Loads Post-Sanctions Cargo to Europe

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Oil resumed its decline below $30 a barrel as Iran loaded its first cargo to Europe since international sanctions ended.

Futures fell as much as 1.7 percent in New York after surging 12 percent on Friday, while Brent in London slid 2.1 percent. A tanker for France’s Total SA was being loaded Sunday at Kharg Island while vessels chartered for Chinese and Spanish companies were due to arrive later the same day, an Iranian oil ministry official said. U.S. drillers idled rigs for an eighth week amid brimming U.S. crude stockpiles, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc.

Oil is down about 22 percent this year amid the outlook for increased Iranian exports and BP Plc predicts the market will remain “tough and choppy” in the first half as it contends with a surplus of 1 million barrels a day. Speculators’ long positions in West Texas Intermediate through Feb. 9 climbed to the highest since June, according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

WTI for March delivery slid as much as 49 cents to $28.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $29.08 at 9:19 a.m. Hong Kong time. The contract gained $3.23 to close at $29.44 on Friday after dropping 19 percent the previous six sessions. Total volume traded was about 11 percent below the 100-day average. Prices lost 4.7 percent last week.

Brent for April settlement declined as much as 69 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $32.67 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract climbed $3.30 to close at $33.36 on Friday. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $1.46 to WTI for April.

Source : Bloomberg

Gold Heads for Back-to-Back Drop on Revival in Appetite for Risk

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Gold rally faltered, with bullion set for the first back-to-back loss in a month, as rising share markets pared demand for a haven.

Bullion for immediate delivery fell as much as 0.9 percent to $1,226.68 an ounce and traded at $1,228.34 at 8:55 a.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal lost 0.7 percent on Friday after surging to $1,263.48 on Feb. 11, the highest level since February 2015.

Gold has been the best performer on the Bloomberg Commodity Index this year, up 16 percent, as a weakening global economy spurred demand and investors priced in reduced odds of the Federal Reserve increasing U.S. borrowing costs. Equity markets gained on Monday after a rebound in oil at the end of last week spearheaded a revival in risk appetite. China’s financial markets reopen after a week-long break.

Source : Bloomberg

China Stocks Tumble as Markets Reopen After Week-Long Holiday

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China stocks slumped as trading resumed after a week-long holiday which saw global equities enter a bear market on concern over the strength of the world economy.

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2.4 percent to 2,698.16 as of 9:47 a.m. local time, led by financial and industrial companies. The MSCI All-Country World Index retreated 2.6 percent since the city’s markets closed on Feb. 5, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index tumbled 6.8 percent. The yuan gained 0.9 percent in Shanghai, the biggest advance since at least 2007, after the central bank strengthened the currency’s reference rate by the most in three months.

China’s benchmark stock index has plunged 22 percent this year on concern that the economic slowdown and weakening yuan will exacerbate capital outflows. The nation’s foreign-exchange reserves shrank in January to the smallest since 2012, data released on Feb. 7 showed. Margin traders have also been unwinding bullish bets on stocks amid speculation valuations are still too high.

Trade data as well as new loan figures for January are due Monday. Exports probably declined for the seventh straight month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. China is targeting its economy to expand in the range of 6.5 percent to 7 percent for this year, after recording 6.9 percent growth in 2015 that was the slowest in 25 years.

The Hang Seng China gauge rallied 2.8 percent after slumping to a six-year low last week. The Hang Seng Index added 2.1 percent.

Source : Bloomberg

China Exports Drop in January as Challenges Flow into New Year

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China exports dropped in January, while imports also fell, adding to economic challenges confronting the world’s biggest trading nation.

Overseas shipments declined 6.6 percent in January in yuan terms from a year earlier, the customs administration said on Monday, compared with a 2.3 percent increase in December. Imports extended a stretch of declines to 15 months, falling 14.4 percent, leaving a trade surplus of 406.2 billion yuan ($62.3 billion).

The decrease suggests the yuan’s depreciation since August has yet to result in a sustained boost to the competitiveness of China’s factories.

Source : Bloomberg

Japan Economy Contracted Again in Final Quarter of 2015

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Japan’s economy contracted in the final three months of 2015 as the nation struggles to break free of a cycle of expansion and contraction despite more than three years of the Abenomics program.

Gross domestic product shrank an annualized 1.4 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, following a revised 1.3 percent gain in the third quarter, the Cabinet Office said on Monday in Tokyo. The median estimate of 33 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.8 percent decline.

Weakness in private consumption was the biggest contributor to the contraction, undermining Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policies to spur inflation and growth in the world’s third-largest economy. The yen appreciated 6.6 percent against the dollar this month even after increased monetary stimulus and attempts by government officials to quell its volatile rise.

The economy’s performance has see-sawed over the past three years since Abe returned as prime minister, even as BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has ratcheted up monetary easing in concert with government efforts to spur higher wages, consumer spending and investment.

Source : Bloomberg