Dubai / Reuters The oil market doomsayers are beginning to capitulate. Speculators reduced bets on falling prices to the lowest level in 11 months as oil briefly breached $50 a barrel on signs supplies are coming into balance. Crude climbed 7.4 percent this month in New York amid lower U.S. production and unplanned disruptions in Canada and Nigeria. Prices ...
Read More »Stocks
Chicken feed hottest commodity of 2016 amid supply woes
Bloomberg This year’s best-performing commodity is chicken feed. And cow food. Soybean meal, made from crushed soybeans and used to feed poultry and livestock, has jumped 54 percent in 2016, the biggest gain among the 22 components of the Bloomberg Commodity Index. Prices are soaring after flooding reduced crops and limited supplies from Argentina, the world’s biggest exporter of ...
Read More »B’desh wheat cargo rejection spooks sellers
Bloomberg Some wheat traders are steering clear of Bangladesh’s tenders to import the grain after the nation rejected three cargoes earlier this year. The country’s Directorate General of Food received only two offers in a tender to buy 50,000 metric tons of wheat, Ilahi Dad Khan, director of procurement at the agency, said by phone from Dhaka. It had ...
Read More »Gold posts losses again as Yellen adds to rate-rise angst
Bloomberg Gold looks very different than it did at the beginning of May. Along with platinum, palladium and silver, it is heading for the biggest monthly loss since November as investors anticipate higher borrowing costs in the U.S. Bullion has pared this year’s rally after retreating more than 5 percent in May as the dollar rallied and investors raised ...
Read More »Oil tops $50 to lift exporters’ currencies
BLOOMBERG Crude surpassed $50 a barrel for the first time in six months amid signs the global supply glut is coming to an end, buoying currencies where oil is produced. U.S. stocks fluctuated after a two-day rally. A drop in U.S. stockpiles and shrinking output in Nigeria and Venezuela contributed to the gains in Brent, which is up more ...
Read More »Stocks, emerging markets gain as Fed seen pulling off hike
BLOOMBERG Don’t fear the Fed is the new mantra for global markets. Global equities rose to a two-week high amid increasing investor optimism that the world economy can withstand higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Oil advanced and gold fell amid a retreat in the dollar. U.S. shares looked for consecutive climbs after alternating between gains and losses ...
Read More »Brazilian companies looking to invest say anywhere but here
Bloomberg Brazilian companies have figured out where to invest amid a political crisis and rocky economy: anywhere but Brazil. Industrial machinery maker WEG SA said 75 percent of its investments this year will be in operations outside the country. That compares with 80 percent of total investments in Brazil three years ago. In the past two months, the Jaragua ...
Read More »Dollar advances with stocks as traders assess Fed; Pound jumps
BLOOMBERG The dollar and stocks worldwide climbed, as investors awaited additional clues on the health of the global economy amid speculation higher interest rates in the U.S. may come as soon as July. The pound and oil gained. The U.S. currency touched its strongest level since March against the euro, while Australia’s dollar and South Korea’s won posted the ...
Read More »Hedge funds have $17.7bn at stake with insurers fleeing
Bloomberg Insurers have had about enough of hedge funds. Stung by market-trailing returns, the industry in the U.S. is reversing course after more than doubling its hedge fund allocation over five years, to $17.7 billion as of Dec. 31, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Just this month, American International Group Inc. said it submitted ...
Read More »Commodities drop, US stocks swing on interest-rate focus
BLOOMBERG Commodities slid, led by metals, while U.S. stocks fluctuated as investors awaited more clarity on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s next increase in interest rates and the outlook for inflation. The yen strengthened. Oil fell for a fourth day after Iran said again that it won’t countenance freezing output until its production is back at pre-sanctions levels, ...
Read More »