Gold, Oil & Indices (Equity & Bond Indices)

Copper off highs of 299.80 at 299. Orders booked above 301

Yesterday, gold declined $1.30 or 0.10% to close at $1237.17 an ounce while the dollar lost strength six major currencies which are measured by the Dollar Index, declined to close at 85.80 while recording a high of 86.41 and a low of 85.64.



Among other precious metals; platinum is traded at $1558.10; palladium at $470.40; silver at $18.42; while, copper is at $297.23. Turning to commodity futures we see last yesterday, S&P GSCI closed at 500.43 points recording a high of 508.61 points and a low of 497.23 points while RJ/CRB Commodity closed at 259.72 points recording a high of 262.82 points and a low of 259.29.



SPDR gold trust, the largest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion in the world, remained steady at the record high of 1,313.13 metric tons. Gold was set in London on Wednesday at $1226.50 per ounce declining from $1243.00 per ounce during the AM fixing.



Furthermore, stocks in Asia inclined as a result of Australia's new prime minister saying she might lower the resources tax proposed by the predecessor on mining companies, while material producers stock companies climbed therefore supported the overall stock markets.



Turning to oil, we see that prices are rising as the dollar weakened, which meant that investors were interested in commodities as they are priced in dollars, as it becomes cheaper for them.



Currently, spot gold is trading at $1231.84 an ounce recording a high of $1237.90 an ounce and a low of $1227.70 an ounce.

@station...i was thinkn about something...seaming how the fed has left everything the same an hoenig is still by himself...wouldn;t that mean cheap $$ is still avail for the hedge funds &invest bankers to borrow an to punp into risk appitite..there fore raising oil up an commod currancies like cad &auss..u mentioned that so long as oil &aussi remain weak gold will stay strong..so does this have a valide effect on gold ?thanks for ur time

Bond Markets Have Blown Off Half Of Their Eurozone Fears



Scott Grannis at Calafia Beach Pundit highlights how bond markets have now blown off half of their previous Eurozone fears.Credit default swap (CDS) spreads have eased back by about half the amount they previously spiked in response the recent Eurozone crisis.


CBP:
As of last Friday, credit spreads had reversed about half of their recent widening. The scare that started in Euroland with the Greek debt crisis and threatened to spread to the U.S. economy is passing.
Note this applies to both Investment Grade spreads and High Yield ('Junk bond') spreads:

Crude Oil Tumbles as Inventory Surged, New Home Sales at Record Low

Total crude oil and petroleum products stocks increased +2.68 mmb to 10.98 mmb in the week ended June 18. Crude oil inventory rose +2.02 mmb, compared with consensus of a -0.8 mmb dip, to 365.1 mmb during the week with gains coming mainly from Gulf Coast. Utilization rate surged to 89.4%, the highest level since April 30 2010 (89.59%).

Distillate stockpile added +0.3 mmb to 156.9 mmb. Production increase +0.72% which was partly offset by -36.67% decline in imports. Demand slipped -1.59% to 3.78M bpd. Gasoline stockpile drew -0.76 mmb to 217.6 mmb. Production dropped -1.31% but imports soared +0.72%. Demand declined -1.04%. MasterCard's survey showed a different result which said motor fuel demand increased +0.4% to 9.311M bpd during the week.

Selloff of WTI crude oil accelerated in NY session after new home sales slumped -33% m/m to a record low of 300K in May. April's reading was revised down to 446K from 504K in previous estimate. The front-month contract plummeted to as low as 75.17 shortly after the inventory report came out but then rebounded to 76.17. Currently trading at 76, crude oil's near-term outlook should remain weak.

Weekly change in inventory as of 18/06/10 Actual Change Market Expectation Previous
Crude oil 365.1 mmb +2.02 mmb -0.80 mmb +1.69 mmb
Gasoline 217.6 mmb -0.76 mmb -0.10 mmb -0.64 mmb
Distillate 156.9 mmb +0.30 mmb +1.30 mmb +1.80 mmb

Comparison between API and EIA reports:

API (Jun 18) EIA (Jun 18 )
Actual Inventory Previous Forecast (using API's inventory level) Inventory
Crude oil +3.69 mmb 362.5 mmb +0.58 mmb -0.61 mmb 363 mmb
Gasoline +0.81 mmb 221.1 mmb +1.30 mmb +2.66 mmb 221 mmb
Distillate +1.10 mmb 154.7 mmb +2.10 mmb -1.62 mmb 155 mmb

API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, 76% of the time, using data in the past 4 years.

Source: Bloomberg, API, EIA