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Stocks fall with commodities on China, U.S. sales as ruble drops

1 December 2014 14:35 (UTC+04:00)
Stocks fall with commodities on China, U.S. sales as ruble drops
By Bloomberg

Stocks fell around the world, led by the biggest slide in emerging-market equities in six weeks, as a Chinese manufacturing gauge dropped and American holiday spending slowed. Oil led commodities to a five-year low and Russia’s ruble plunged to a record.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 1.6 percent by 8:25 a.m. in London, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index sliding 0.4 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures dropping 0.4 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 2.9 percent to $64.23 a barrel, sending a gauge of global energy stocks to the biggest six-day loss since 2011. Gold sank as Swiss voters rejected a measure to force the central bank to hold bullion. The ruble weakened 3.3 percent.

Collapsing oil prices are damping inflation expectations and pushing the Bloomberg Commodity Index to the lowest level since 2009. U.S. consumers cut spending by an estimated 11 percent over the post-Thanksgiving weekend. China’s official factory index fell to 50.3 for November, below the 50.5 reading projected by economists, while a private gauge from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics came in at 50, the border between expansion and contraction.

“Concerns about disinflation and deflation are being fueled by what we’re seeing in energy and commodity markets at this point in time,” Richard Gibbs, global head of economics at Macquarie Group Ltd., Australia’s largest investment bank, said in a Bloomberg TV interview in Sydney. “Clearly the decision by the Saudis to not even countenance a cut in production has strong geopolitical undertones.”


‘Shock Therapy’


Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil exporter among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, was a driving force behind the 12-member group’s decision last week to hold production steady.

The oil minister of Iran, which advocated for an output cut, said in an interview late last week that the “shock therapy” of a steep decline in prices is no solution to OPEC’s loss of market share to U.S. shale producers. Brent crude fell 2.8 percent today to $68.19 a barrel, a four-year low.

U.S. equity-index futures signaled a second day of decline for the S&P 500 as a surge in Thanksgiving Day holiday sales failed to carry through the Black Friday weekend. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq 100 Index slipped at least 0.3 percent. Mini contracts on the Russell 2000 Index dropped 0.6 percent.

Gains by consumer stocks such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. on Nov. 28 tempered the biggest one-day rout in energy stocks in three years.

Consumer spending fell to $50.9 billion over the four Days through Nov. 30, down from $57.4 billion in 2013, the National Retail Federation said today in a statement. It’s the second year in a row that sales declined during the period, which had long been famous for long lines and frenzied crowds.


Asian Equities


Dubai’s General Index slumped 2.1 percent today after a 4.7 percent tumble yesterday. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark Tadawul Index fluctuated after plunging 4.8 percent yesterday, the most in three years.

All 10 industry groups on the MSCI All Country World Index fell today, led by energy and materials producers. Airlines had the biggest gains in Asian trading today.

Altice SA, controlled by billionaire Patrick Drahi, led gains on the Stoxx 600 after entering exclusive talks to acquire Oi SA’s Portuguese assets for about 7.4 billion euros ($9.2 billion).

Balfour Beatty Plc added 4.9 percent after a John Laing Infrastructure Fund made a non-binding proposal to buy some of the engineering firm’s public finance business for 1 billion pounds ($1.56 billion) in cash.


Hang Seng


Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index retreated 2.6 percent and a gauge of Chinese shares in the city dropped 2.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1 percent after seven days of gains that took it to the highest level since August 2011 on Nov. 28. Offshore investors briefly became net sellers of mainland Chinese shares through the connection with Hong Kong today.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 2 percent, with a subindex that includes oil companies tumbling 6.4 percent today. The energy gauge is down more than 15 percent in the last three sessions, it’s largest drop since October 2008. Materials and energy stocks make up about 20 percent of the benchmark measure.


Commodity Currencies


The Australian dollar weakened 0.7 percent to 84.47 U.S. cents and the country’s 10-year government bond yield dropped below 3 percent for the first time since October 2012. The Markit iTraxx Australia index of credit-default swaps gained 1.5 basis points to 92 basis points as of 5:55 p.m. in Sydney, Citigroup prices showed.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed after rising to its highest level since March 2009. Norway’s krone, the worst-performing major currency against the U.S. dollar this quarter, slipped 0.2 percent, South Africa’s rand retreated 0.5 percent and Canada’s dollar declined 0.2 percent.

Japan’s yen fell to a seven-year low of 119.03 per dollar today. That boosted shares of exporters like Toyota Motor Corp. and camera maker Canon Inc., propelling the Topix index to a 0.8 percent advance.

The ruble led losses in emerging markets today, sliding to 52.1330 per dollar and weakening 3 percent to 64.76 to the euro. The currency is heading for its biggest five-day retreat on record.

Malaysia’s ringgit fell as much as 1.7 percent to 3.4392, the weakest since February 2010. The crude-exporting country’s currency has dropped 2.6 percent in two days, the biggest such decline on a closing basis since June 1998.

Metals Retreat

Copper fell to a four-year low as a rout in the energy market drove raw materials lower. The metal for delivery in three months tumbled as much as 1.9 percent to $6,230.75 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange before trading at $6,292. Nickel slid 1.8 percent to $15,975.

“The substantial adjustment to oil prices continues to be a drag on other commodities,” said Hou Jun, a Shenzhen-based strategist at Citic Futures Co., a unit of China’s biggest listed brokerage. “It’s difficult to be optimistic on commodities going into 2015 as policy differentiation continues to support the dollar in a low inflation environment while growth outside the U.S. remains under pressure.”

Gold for immediate delivery fell as much as 2.1 percent to $1,142.88 an ounce, the lowest level since Nov. 7, before trading at $1,155.36. Silver lost as much as 6.7 percent.

A proposal that would have required the Swiss National Bank to hold at least 20 percent of its assets in bullion was voted down by 77 percent to 23 percent in a referendum yesterday

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