Gold Climbs With Silver as Fed Minutes Show Rates May Stay Low

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Gold futures rose the most this month after minutes from the Federal Reserve™s January meeting showed policy makers argued for keeping interest rates near record lows for longer. Silver advanced.

Bullion for April delivery added as much as 1.7 percent, the most since Jan. 30, to $1,221 an ounce on the Comex in New York. It was at $1,217.70 by 10:13 a.m. in London, after touching a six-week low of $1,197.20 on Wednesday.

Futures trading volume was 40 percent below the 100-day average for this time of day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Gold for immediate delivery climbed 0.4 percent to $1,217.78 in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing.

Holdings in gold-backed exchanged-traded products rose for the first time in a week, adding 0.1 metric ton to 1,670.4 tons as of Wednesday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Assets reached a four-month high on Feb. 9.

Silver for March delivery advanced 2 percent to $16.585 an ounce in New York, after dropping to the lowest since Jan. 9 on Wednesday. Platinum increased 1 percent to $1,178.50 an ounce, rebounding from the lowest since 2009. Palladium was little changed at $776.50 an ounce.

Source: Bloomberg

European Stocks Drop From Seven-Year High as Energy Shares Fall

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European stocks fell from a seven-year high as energy shares declined.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2 percent to 379.46 at 8:11 a.m. in London. Total SA and BG Group Plc dropped at least 1.3 percent as crude prices fell, sending a gauge of oil and gas shares to the worst performance among 19 Stoxx 600 industry groups. Pressure also increased for Greece to reach a deal with its creditors before its bailout agreement ends this month.

The Stoxx 600 rose 0.9 percent on Wednesday on speculation for a Greek deal after an official said its government will submit a request on Thursday for a six-month loan extension. The gauge has surged 11 percent this year as the ECB announced quantitative easing last month.

The central bank will publish on Thursday a summary of its monetary-policy meeting for the first time. The document will cover the Jan. 22 deliberations behind its decision to start buying government bonds.

Source: Bloomberg

Oil Extends Decline as U.S. Crude Stockpiles Seen Expanding Glut

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Oil fell for a second day before U.S. government data forecast to show crude stockpiles in the world™s biggest consumer expanded to a record level.

Futures slid as much as 3.7 percent in New York. Crude supplies probably rose by 3 million barrels to 420.9 million through Feb. 13, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a report Thursday from the Energy Information Administration. That would be the highest in weekly records compiled by the EIA since August 1982. Industry data Wednesday showed inventories climbed by 14.3 million barrels, according to reports on Twitter.

Rising U.S. crude stockpiles contributed to a global glut that drove prices almost 50 percent lower in 2014. Marathon Oil Corp. will cut an additional 20 percent from its spending plan for this year, as companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp. reduce investments in response to the collapse.

West Texas Intermediate for March delivery dropped as much as $1.91 to $50.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $50.70 at 1:24 p.m. Sydney time. The contract fell $1.39 to $52.14 on Wednesday. The volume of all futures traded was about 39 percent above the 100-day average. Prices have decreased 4.8 percent this year.

Source : Bloomberg

Dollar Holds Decline as Fed Minutes Show No Hurry to Raise Rates

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The dollar remained weaker versus the yen after minutes Wednesday from the Federal Reserve™s January meeting showed policy makers argued for keeping interest rates near record lows longer due to risks facing the economy.

The greenback fell against the majority of its Group-of-10 peers after committee members pointed to the dollar™s strength, international flash points from Greece to Ukraine, and slow wage growth as weakening the case for the first rate increase since 2006. Treasury yields fell the most this month Wednesday.

The dollar was little changed at 118.74 yen as of 9:55 a.m. in Tokyo from Wednesday, when it slid 0.4 percent. The greenback traded at $1.1404 per euro from $1.1397. The single currency bought 135.41 yen from 135.39.

The main lending rate has been in a range of zero to 0.25 percent since 2008.

Source : Bloomberg