U.S. crude for October delivery fell $2.20 to $69.74 by 1:24 p.m. EDT (1724 GMT) after rising to $72.90 in choppy trading. London Brent crude fell $2.10 to $67.76 a barrel.

“Crude put in a high for the week, but there was no follow-through and the dollar and S&P turned around and that helped pull crude back,” said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.

U.S. stocks were hampered by profit taking after five days of gains and the longest winning streak since November which helped boost crude prices earlier in the week.

Analysts and traders say that current oil prices reflect attitudes in the market rather than fundamentals.

Data released Thursday by the U.S. government showed petroleum product inventories, including heating oil and gasoline, rose more than expected last week, suggesting lackluster demand.

“Fuel demand has not recovered and the market needs to see some demand after going up on sentiment,” McGillian said.

Data showed China’s crude oil imports in August surged about 25 percent to a near-record high of 19.6 million tonnes or around 4.6 million barrels.

Oil hit a year-high of $75 a barrel in late August, from below $33 in December, as global oil demand recovered.

Crude’s climb mirrored a rise in European equities <.FTEU3>, which were headed for their sixth consecutive session of gains.

Since March 9, equities and oil have traded in close correlation.

At least two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, prompting an Israeli artillery response, heightening fears of regional instability and prompting earlier crude buying, traders said. No casualties were reported.

The International Energy Agency said that oil demand would rise this year and next as the global economy recovers, although it also said oil stocks in the big developed countries of the OECD were up 4.6 percent in July versus a year ago.

WEAK DOLLAR

The dollar index <.DXY>, a measure of the U.S. unit’s performance against six other major currencies, has dropped 1.9 percent in the past week. It briefly fell as low as 76.548 of Friday, its lowest level since September 2008.

Weakness in the dollar, the currency of the oil market, was a concern for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The group needs higher average oil prices to step up investment in new output, its secretary-general said.

The dollar’s slide has helped boost demand for crude this week, but an analyst at Commonwealth Bank said oil was unlikely to get much more upward momentum from the greenback.

“Our forecast for currencies is for dollar depreciation — a lot of that has occurred already and while depreciation has been an upside driver, that influence may be weakening,” said David Moore, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank in Sydney.

NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters)

U.S. crude prices for October delivery rose 2 cents to $68.07 a barrel by 11:44 a.m. EDT (1644 GMT), after earlier reaching a high of $69.40 on U.S. stock gains and a weaker dollar.

London Brent crude was down 32 cents at $67.34 a barrel.

“Right now, there’s not a whole lot of momentum here in either direction. I think the trend for the week, which has been down, is still in force,” said Tom Bentz, senior commodity analyst, BNP Paribas commodity Futures Inc in New York.

“Everything seemed to kind of slip right after the jobs data,” he added.

U.S. jobless claims fell last week, according to a report released by the Department of Labor on Thursday, but the prior week’s figure was revised up.

The number of people collecting long-term unemployment benefits rose to 6.23 million in the week ended Aug. 22, well above market expectations for 6.12 million.

U.S. stocks edged up on Thursday on better-than-expected sales from retailers in August.

The Institute for Supply Management released a report on Thursday showing that while the U.S. services sector shrank in August, an index measuring activity was at its highest in nearly a year.

RANGEBOUND

Oil prices are not likely to break out of the confines of the current range in the short term, analysts said.

U.S. crude prices have been rangebound, between $65 to $75 a barrel since the start of August, fluctuating on the latest clues about the speed of an impending economic recovery.

“There isn’t the structural tightness for the market to break out of this range,” said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob, pointing to brimming global distillates such as diesel stored on land and at sea.

Traders were also eyeing news that big oil producers are increasing output. Russian oil output hit a record high in August, nearing 10 million barrels per day as the country launched a new giant field.

OPEC is expected to leave output targets unchanged when it next meets on Sept. 9 in Vienna.

Sept 3 (Reuters)

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares fell 0.5 percent to close at 973.92 points, breaking a four-day winning streak, and having hit its highest close since early October on Tuesday.

The European benchmark index is still up 50.9 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, as investors have become more confident on the prospects of recovery.

“The market has come a long way, and the economics are still supportive,” said Georgina Taylor, equity strategist, Legal & General Investment Management.

“We’re just seeing a little profit taking. Nothing has been derailed. Housing data is improving. The only area of concern is consumer spending.”

Energy companies were the biggest drag on the index, with crude prices down more than 1 percent to just above $71 a barrel, after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said inventories had risen.

BG Group , BP , Repsol and Total were between 0.9 and 2.3 percent lower.

UK-based oil explorer Tullow Oil fell 3.9 percent after it said interim profits dropped 83 percent on lower oil prices and production.

Other economics news was mostly upbeat. Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes rose in July to their fastest pace in 10 months, while orders for long-lasting manufactured goods surged, hinting a modest economic recovery was taking shape.

However, some investors chose to focus on orders excluding transportation climbing slightly less than forecast.

Back in Europe, the business climate index of Germany’s Ifo, a Munich-based think tank, rose to 90.5 from an upwardly revised 87.4 in July.

“The Ifo figures did not have a momentum effect, despite them being very good. But one also has to acknowledge that the markets are moving on high levels and that people may be following the strategy of ’selling on good news,’” said Joerg Rahn, chief investment officer at wealth management company Marcard, Stein & Co.

Miners also fell. Copper miner Antofagasta lost 4.8 percent after it posted lower-than-expected earnings in the first half and warned prices were likely to remain volatile in the second half.

BHP Billiton , Xstrata , Anglo American and Rio Tinto were down 1.4 to 4.1 percent.

NATIXIS SOARS

Among individual movers, French bank Natixis soared 38.8 percent after majority owner state-backed BPCE said it will guarantee roughly 35 billion euros ($50.12 billion) worth of toxic assets at the investment bank.

Alcatel-Lucent surged 11.9 percent as traders cited market talk of a possible bid from a Chinese manufacturer of telecom gear and a rating upgrade by Natixis.

Heineken , the world’s third-largest brewer, rose 7.2 percent, after reporting a rise in first-half operating profit, driven by cost savings, beat forecasts.

Guinness maker Diageo rose 2.6 percent, ahead of full-year results on Thursday.

Suez Environnement soared 11.5 percent after the French utility group reported forecast-topping first-half profit despite a sharp drop in waste business.

However, GDF Suez , the French electricity and gas group, fell 1.7 percent, ahead of first-half results on Thursday.

Swiss Life fell 7 percent after saying it is cutting jobs and costs after two investments in Germany failed to yield hoped-for benefits, even as first-half profits beat forecasts.

Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index closed 0.5 percent lower, Germany’s DAX <.GDAXI> fell 0.6 percent and France’s CAC 40 <.FCHI> was down 0.3 percent.

Aug 26 (Reuters)

Spot gold hit an intra-day high of $961.00 an ounce, its highest since June 11, and was bid at $959.10 an ounce at 1329 GMT, against $953.90 an ounce late in New York on Friday.

U.S. gold futures for August delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $5.70 to $959.40 an ounce.

“At the moment we’re seeing the dollar as the key factor to movements in the gold market,” said Eugen Weinberg, senior analyst at Commerzbank.

“In the past few months (gold) has gone from being a safe haven to becoming a dollar play. The dollar right now is so weak because no one is looking for a safe haven — because corporate results are so good and stock markets are performing so well.”

Silver was at $14.40 an ounce against $13.89, earlier it touched a high of $14.47, the highest since mid-June.

“Silver tracks gold in both directions,” Weinberg said.

The dollar hit a 2009 low versus a basket of currencies, stung by buoyant risk demand. The dollar index <.DXY>, a gauge of the U.S. currency’s performance against six other major currencies, fell to its lowest since December.

Appetite for risk was boosted by rising stock markets. European shares hit a nine-month high, as financials advanced after earnings results from Europe’s biggest bank HSBC cheered investor sentiment.

Rising equity markets also boosted interest in oil, with prices hitting a one-month high. Stronger crude prices support interest in gold as a hedge against oil-led inflation.

SILVER INFLOWS

Silver took further support from fresh inflows into exchange-traded funds last week.

The largest silver ETF, the iShares Silver Trust, said its holdings rose to a record 8,828 tonnes on Friday, while Switzerland’s Zurich Cantonal Bank said its silver holdings rose 1.929 million ounces last week.

Investment demand for gold and jewellery buying remain lacklustre, however. Holdings of the largest gold ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust , fell nearly 50 tonnes in July.

ETFs issue securities backed by physical commodities, and constituted a big source of gold demand in the first quarter.

Jewellery demand was also weak as Indian consumption softened on the back of higher prices. “Traders are waiting for lower prices,” said one dealer.

Among other precious metals, platinum was at $1,218.50 an ounce against $1,207.50, while palladium was at $267.50 against $261.50. Platinum traders are awaiting U.S. car sales data due later in the day for direction.

Government measures to boost demand for new cars supported European car sales in July, data showed, with French sales rising 3.1 percent, helping to lift both platinum and palladium which are chiefly used in automobile production.

“We view the development in vehicle sales as a positive signal,” Standard Bank said in a note. “We view this as a bullish signal for platinum, palladium, aluminium demand.”

In Japan industry-wide auto sales fell 5.2 percent in July from a year earlier.

LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters)

U.S. data showed the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose slightly more than expected last week, but a gauge of underlying labor trends fell for a fifth straight week.

Spot gold was bid at $933.50 an ounce at 1311 GMT, against $929.00 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures for August delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $6.20 to $933.40 an ounce.

“If this is welcomed by the equities market and triggers a fresh boost, that could benefit gold,” said CMC Markets strategist Ashraf Laidi.

The dollar was down 0.39 percent at 79.3 against a basket of currencies and was lower against the euro following the data. Traders are now eyeing U.S. data on second-quarter GDP due on Friday for clues as to the next direction of the economy.

European shares rose as investors digested a raft of broadly positive corporate earnings, while U.S. stock futures extended gains after the jobs report.

Oil was also boosted by stock markets and rose above $64 a barrel. Firmer crude prices can support gold, which can be used as a hedge against oil-led inflation.

Gold demand in India, the world’s biggest bullion consumer, is recovering after recent price falls, but a further decline will be needed for buying to significantly recover.

“There are advance orders in decent quantities in the range of $900-920 an ounce,” said one dealer with a state-run bank.

Overall demand in India remains weak, however. The country’s gold imports have reached a provisional 8-10 tonnes in July so far, well below the 24 tonnes recorded last June, the Bombay Bullion Association said.

INVESTMENT SOFT

Investment demand for gold remained soft, however, as ETF holdings slipped further. Holdings of the largest bullion ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust, fell over 10 tonnes on Wednesday, and are down nearly 48 tonnes in the last four weeks.

Jason Toussaint, managing director for exchange-traded gold with the World Gold Council, said there was evidence investors were selling out of the SPDR fund to buy shares.

Analysts fear a broader liquidation of ETF gold holdings resulting from a recovery in risk appetite could jeopardise gold’s gains.

“Without strong physical demand to absorb metal coming back into the market and with funds cutting long exposure, the metal is at risk of a deeper correction,” said TheBullionDesk.com analyst James Moore.

On the supply side, the world’s largest gold producer, Barrick Gold , said it produced 1.87 million ounces of gold in the second quarter and is on track to meet its 2009 output target of 7.2-7.6 million ounces.

Among other precious metals, silver tracked gold up to $13.44 an ounce against $13.28. Spot platinum was at $1,177 an ounce against $1,170, while spot palladium was at $255 against $252.50

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters)

Platinum’s graph looked quite similar to gold yesterday, as the precious metal developed what looked like the gentlest of trends in the black but managed to tack on quite a bit before all was said and done, ending the day at $1129/oz., up $16. Overnight, platinum is way up.

Silver rounded out what ended up being a solid but uneventful day for the precious metals by showing the same slight trend as gold and platinum, ending at $12.87/oz., up 4 cents. Overnight, silver is trending much higher. (Click here for charts)

Gold had kind of a blah day, but I’m sure investors don’t mind too much since it was still able to post a modest gain despite the third straight day of falling crude prices.

Nevertheless, holdings of GLD, the world’s largest ETF backed by gold bullion, declined by 15.27 metric tons yesterday down to 1,094.54 tons. Since June 15th, holdings have fallen by 37.61 metric tons.

Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia, said the dip was a reflection of the weak sentiment in last week’s market when bullion slipped to below $910.

So it was not surprising to see some investor interest being unwound,” he said.

He added, however, that he would not read too much into the decline.

“I wouldn’t consider it a change to the overall picture, the overall trend, which I think is still relatively positive for gold,” Heathcote said.

In company specific news, Silver Wheaton Corp. announced that construction of the first sulphide process line at Goldcorp’s gold-silver-lead-zinc Penasquito mine in Zacatecas, Mexico is now complete and commissioning work is advancing on schedule. Production and shipment of first concentrates are still targeted for the second half of 2009.

After a ramp-up period, Penasquito is forecast to produce an average of about 30 million ounces of silver annually over an initial 22-year mine life, of which Silver Wheaton is to receive 25% or in excess of 7 million ounces of silver per year.

Source: The Daily Resource 7/15/09

U.S. crude futures traded down $1.01 to $63.04 a barrel by 1:13 p.m. EDT (1713 GMT) as investors sought safer havens. London Brent crude fell 74 cents to $63.31 a barrel.

“The worries are that the pace of the economic recovery hasn’t materialized the way that people who plunged into the commodity markets thought, and now they are running for the exits,” said Gene McGillian, an analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “The question is how far they will run.”

Safe-haven currencies such as the dollar gained on the concerns about a potential turnaround to the global economic crisis, while U.S. stocks fell.

Crude prices have dropped from $73 a barrel in late June on worries a rebound in global fuel demand may be far off, after economic optimism helped lift prices from lows under $33 struck in December.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its outlook for global oil demand by 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) in a report released on Tuesday.

“There has been stronger economic activity in Asia than was previously anticipated, and the current forecast reflects higher expected oil consumption in that region,” the EIA said.

Surging demand from China and other developing economies launched oil and other commodities on a six-year rally that sent crude to a record high near $150 a barrel last year, before the economic crisis hit demand.

Weekly U.S. inventory data is expected to show a fall in crude oil stockpiles and a build in gasoline and distillate stocks in the week to July 3, the build up to the long U.S. Independence Day holiday weekend when summer gasoline demand typically peaks.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to be released later Tuesday, with the EIA’s weekly inventory report due out on Wednesday.

Crude has found limited support from OPEC member Nigeria, where militants have launched at least four attacks against oil installations in the past 10 days, helping to underpin prices on Tuesday.

NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters)

At 0827 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.7 percent at 850.29 points after falling in the previous two sessions. The index, which slumped 45 percent in 2008, has jumped 31 percent since falling to a lifetime low in early March.

Elan rose 6.6 percent after the Sunday Times newspaper said that Novartis was in talks to buy parts of Elan, including its flagship multiple sclerosis products and its Alzheimer’s disease pipeline. Novartis was down 0.3 percent.

A spokeswoman for Elan said it did not comment on speculation. A spokesman for Novartis declined to comment.

Novo Nordisk gained 4.4 percent, clawing back most of last week’s losses, on expectations that sales of its modern insulins will benefit from concerns over the safety of Sanofi-Aventis’s rival product Lantus.

Sanofi rose more than 1 percent, levelling out after plunging last week on concerns about imminent new research findings on Lantus and cancer. Details of four European trials highlighting a possible link were made public after the market close on Friday.

But despite Monday’s gains, the European index is on track to close the month in a negative territory after advancing in the previous three months.

“It’s quite clear that we have lost momentum over the last week or so. The strong rally that we saw in cyclicals through the early part of the second quarter has started to fade,” said Darren Winder, head of macro and strategy research at Cazenove.

“But I don’t think this is the beginning of a downward trend. The markets are basically in a trading range at the moment and are looking for signs of economic recovery. And those signs are not going to be there in a very visible way until the autumn.”

UBS fell 1.7 percent. The bank is to pay 3 billion to 5 billion Swiss francs ($2.77-$4.62 billion) in the next two weeks to settle a U.S. tax probe into the bank, Swiss newspaper Sonntag reported.

Other banks were broadly higher. Barclays , Lloyds , Royal Bank of Scotland and Societe Generale were up 0.3-3.2 percent.

Energy stocks were among top gainers on the index as they tracked firmer crude oil prices . BP , Royal Dutch Shell , BG Group , Repsol , Total and StatoilHydro added 0.6-1.7 percent.

Miners got strength from a 1.2 percent rise in copper prices and a 1.3 percent increase in nickel prices. BHP Billiton , Antofagasta , Rio Tinto , Xstrata and Eurasian Natural Resources rose 0.3-2.2 percent.

Anglo American was up 0.4 percent. The Sunday Telegraph reported that the miner was building its defences against a 41 billion pound ($67.74 billion) merger approach from Xstrata by plotting talks about a major Chinese investment.

Across Europe, UK’s FTSE 100 index, Germany’s DAX  and France’s CAC 40  were up 0.5-0.6 percent.

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters)

Gold was at $941.75 per ounce at 1256 GMT, up from $938.05 quoted late in New York on Friday. The precious metal earlier hit an intra-day high at $942.50 but is some way off a two week high of $948.20 hit last Friday.

A cautious approach to risk kept global stock market gains in check, while crude held under $70 per barrel following a bearish report on demand from the IEA, sapping gold’s appeal as a hedge against oil-induced inflation.

Analysts said the precious metal was holding onto gains but lacking upward momentum as currency markets would be indecisive until U.S. non-farm payroll data was released on Thursday.

“The dollar is going to be critical, and as long as it continues to weaken that tends to mean that gold will slowly grind higher,” said Dan Smith, an analyst at Standard Bank.

“We’re looking at more risk averse behaviour in coming weeks, which we think will push gold higher,” he added.

DOLLAR STEADIES

The dollar slipped after data from the Chicago Federal Reserve showed U.S. economic activity remained extremely weak in May, consistent with a continuing recession.

The currency was under pressure last week following Chinese calls for a super-sovereign global reserve currency.

But the case for a dollar alternative was undermined on Monday when the central bank governor of the United Arab Emirates told Reuters that the prospect was difficult to contemplate and plans to replace the dollar would not succeed.

U.S. gold futures for August delivery strengthened to $941.90 per ounce, up 0.7 percent on the day.

Analysts also said the precious metal could be due for a slight correction following last week’s rally.

“The price of crude oil is still below $70 per barrel, and that (crude) has been a key driver of inflation fears and also the gold price,” said Jesper Dannesboe, an analyst at Societe Generale.

“We had the correction from $1,000 down to around $910, and then another correction upwards. Now I think we’re heading down again,” he added.

Reflecting concern that gold may have lost some of its appeal to investors, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust , said its holdings remained at 1,125.74 tonnes as of June 26, when it fell 0.5 percent.

It is currently down 0.7 percent from a record volume of 1,134.03 tonnes, marked on June 1.

Further undermining physical demand, ETF Securities said the amount of gold it holds to back its Gold Bullion Securities exchange-traded commodity fund had declined 567 ounces on June 26.

Noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures positions fell 5.3 percent to 166,294 lots in the week to June 23 from 175,543 lots, a weekly report by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.

In other precious metals markets, spot silver eased to $13.96 quoted late in New York on Friday, while platinumdropped to $1,185.50 and palladium rose slightly to $245.50.

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters)

Spot gold dropped to $925.60 an ounce at 1207 GMT, having earlier hit a intraday low of $921.30. That compared with $933.80 quoted late on Friday in New York. The price was fixed or set in London earlier on Monday at $924.00.

The dollar gained at the expense of higher-yielders normally associated with risk seeking behaviour, reflecting investor concern about global growth prospects and jitters ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate setting meeting — a factor that was seen supporting gold at the lower levels.

“This whole rebound in sentiment has run into concerns over the extent of real improvement in the economy,” Calyon analyst Robin Bhar said.

“I don’t really see too much more downward movement (in gold) from here, as physical demand will reappear at these levels.”

The Fed was not expected to adjust monetary policy at its meeting this week, but investors will keep a keen eye on its statement for clues on the economic outlook and progress of its debt buyback programme.

In early June, a weakening dollar and increasing demand for gold-backed funds helped bullion hit a three-month high of $989.80 an ounce. But the dollar has since pared its losses, dulling some of gold’s allure as an alternative investment.

Easing crude prices also helped diminish appetite for gold as a hedge against oil-induced inflationary concerns.

INVESTMENT TAILS OFF

In other metals, silver followed gold lower , falling to $13.83 from $14.19 late on Friday in New York. Platinum was bid at $1,188.50 per ounce , while palladium stood at $239 .

Gold’s three-week decline, partly due to selling related to the unwinding of long positions in U.S. gold futures, has discouraged fresh buying, traders said.

U.S. gold futures for August delivery fell 1 percent to $926.70 per ounce from Friday’s settlement on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

A weekly report by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed noncommercial net long U.S. gold futures positions fell 7.5 percent to 175,543 lots in the week to June 16 from 189,674 lots the week before .

The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), said its holdings stood at 1,132.15 tonnes as of June 19, unchanged since June 5.

ETF Securities also said on Monday the amount of gold it holds to back its Gold Bullion Securities exchange-traded commodity fell around 45,000 ounces on June 19.

Investors are in a period of re-adjustment, analysts said, as earlier bets on riskier assets including global share markets  may been overdone in light of persistent global growth concerns.

“Anyone expecting a rapid v-shaped recovery is in for a bit of a disappointment,” said Simon Weeks, director, precious metals sales at Scotia Mocatta in London.

LONDON, June 22 (Reuters)