WTI Drops Below $100 as U.S. Fuel Supplies Rise; Brent Declines

                           West Texas Intermediate dropped for a fourth day and slipped below $100 as gasoline stockpiles rose and demand declined in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil user. Brent decreased in London.

Futures fell as much as 1.1 percent in New York. Gasoline supplies expanded by 365,000 barrels last week to 218.2 million, the highest level in four months, the Energy Information Administration said yesterday. Average consumption shrank 0.5 percent over the past four weeks to thelowest since May, even as the country’s peak driving season started with the Memorial Day holiday on May 26.

“This should be a period of peak demand,” said Jonathan Barratt, the chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities in Sydney. “The price action is telling us the world does not have an issue with the supply of crude. Oil at $100 is a big level, and I don’t think it will give it up so quickly.”

WTI for September delivery slid as much as $1.11 to $99.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $99.63 at 1:58 p.m. Singapore time. The contract fell 0.7 percent to $100.27 yesterday, the lowest close since July 15. The volume of all futures traded was about 7 percent above the 100-day average. Prices are down 5.5 percent in July, the most in nine months.

Brent for September settlement fell as much as 63 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $105.88 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $6.64 to WTI, from $6.24 yesterday.

Crude Stockpiles

WTI slid last week as gasoline stockpiles rose the most in six months to the highest level since March, fueling speculation of slowing demand. Consumption of the fuel during the past four weeks shrank to an average 8.95 million barrels a day, according to the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm.

Crude inventories dropped 3.7 million barrels to 367.4 million in the week ended July 25, said the EIA. Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, decreased by 924,000 barrels to 17.9 million, the lowest since October 2008.

Stockpiles of distillates, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, expanded by 789,000 barrels to 126.7 million, the highest level since September 2013.

Read More

Gold Heads for Longest Drop in 2 Months as U.S. Economy Improves

                   Gold retreated for a fourth day to head for a monthly decline as further signs that the U.S. recovery is gaining momentum strengthened the case for higher borrowing costs in the world’s largest economy.

Gold for immediate delivery fell as much as 0.2 percent to $1,294.24 an ounce, and was at $1,294.97 at 11:28 a.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. A fourth day of losses would be the longest streak since June. Bullion dropped 2.4 percent in July, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index headed for the biggest monthly rise since May 2013, as data including gross domestic product beat estimates.

Gold sank 28 percent last year on expectations that the Federal Reserve would trim monthly bond buying, which it did for a sixth time yesterday. Policy makers also said in their July 30 statement that slack in the labor market persisted even as the economy was picking up, repeating that they will keep interest rates low for a considerable time after ending asset purchases. Data tomorrow may show U.S. employers added more than 200,000 jobs for a sixth month.

“Positive U.S. economic data is good for the dollar and bad for gold,” said Lv Jie, an analyst at Cinda Futures Co., a unit of one of four funds inChina created to buy bad debt from banks. “Geopolitical concerns still exist for support but the longer-term downtrend is unchanged as the U.S. moves toward tighter monetary policy.”

Bullion rebounded 7.8 percent this year as unrest in Ukraine and the Middle East boosted haven demand. Gaza’s main public market was hit by Israeli air strikes yesterday as the U.S. and European Union escalated sanctions against Russia.

ETP Inflow

Gold for December delivery traded at $1,296 an ounce on the Comex in New York from $1,296.90. U.S. exchange-traded products backed by precious metals took in $536.81 million this month, as of July 29, after a net outflow of $319 million in the six months to June, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Palladium for immediate delivery traded at $880.76 an ounce from $880.35 yesterday, poised for a sixth month of gains in the longest such run since January 2011. The metal rallied to $889.75 on July 17, the highest price since February 2001, amid concern sanctions against Russia may curb supplies from the world’s largest producer.

Palladium, mainly used in catalytic converters, advanced 23 percent this year as output was disrupted by a five-month mine strike that ended in June in South Africa, the second-largest producer, while usage in cars increased.

Spot silver fell 0.2 percent to $20.5712 an ounce, heading for a 2.1 percent decline this month. Platinum was at $1,478.69 an ounce from $1,479.63 yesterday, set for the first monthly drop in four. - Bloomberg

Read More

US economy grows 4% in second quarter

            

               The US economy grew at an annual rate of 4 per cent in the second quarter, according to an initial Government estimate on Wednesday.

The figure marks a turnaround after gross domestic product registered its first decline in three years in the previous quarter.

The rebound in the April-June period reflected gains in consumer spending and business inventory. Consumer spending rose 2.5 per cent, spurred by purchases of durable goods after growing just 1.2 per cent in the previous quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said.

The boost in second quarter GDP outpaced economists’ expectations. A survey of economists by Bloomberg news agency had predicted 3 per cent growth in the period.

Updated data showed first quarter growth fell a revised 2.1 per cent, less than the 2.9 per cent drop the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last month.

The steep first quarter decline was attributed to an extremely hard winter that kept consumer spending down along with declines in private inventory investment and state and local Government spending.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week lowered its 2014 growth forecast for the US economy, pointing to the extremely weak first quarter.

GDP would increase by a “disappointing” 1.7 per cent over the year, the Washington-headquartered IMF said in a report.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said it would cut its monthly purchases of government-linked bonds to $25 billion, down from the $35 billion level set at the central bank’s last meeting in June.

The latest cut continues a policy launched in January of regularly trimming the stimulus programme. Until then, the Fed had been buying $85 billion of bonds every month.

The Fed left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the unprecedented, near-zero level in place since December 2008.

The GDP figures released on Wednesday are an initial estimate based on incomplete data and the Government is due to release more complete figures next month. - thehindubusinessline.com

Read More