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Oil falls with energy shares on supply concern; Greek bonds rise

10 February 2015 19:00 (UTC+04:00)
Oil falls with energy shares on supply concern; Greek bonds rise

By Bloomberg

Oil fell for the first time in four days and European energy shares slid on concern that U.S. crude supply will exacerbate a global glut. Greek bonds rose amid speculation the country will reach a deal with its creditors.

West Texas Intermediate slid 1.7 percent to $51.94 a barrel as of 11:23 a.m. in London, while oil and natural gas producers in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated 1.6 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The yield on Greek 3-year notes fell 1.06 percentage points to 20.03 percent. The Bloomberg Dollar Index added 0.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.5 percent after data showing the slowest inflation in five years spurred speculation of further economic stimulus.

U.S. production of oil from hard-to-penetrate rock formations is contributing to a surplus that drove prices almost 50 percent lower in 2014. Greece’s Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will meet euro-area counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday to seek about 10 billion euros ($11.3 billion) in short-term financing as it tries to stave off a funding crunch while buying time to push its creditors to ease austerity demands.

“Markets have been in a risk-seeking mode, so they will need to consolidate in the following weeks or months,” Thomas Haerter, chief strategist at Swisscanto Asset Management AG in Zurich, said in a phone interview. “The short-term movements are all about Greece and Germany.”

Greek Maneuvering

Behind the public rhetoric, the Greek government has shifted to a more cooperative stance in recent conversations with the troika of the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission, according to an official representing the creditors.

Two other troika officials said Greece may be given more time to present its complete proposals for a permanent arrangement if Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepts he needs a new program, which will include monitoring, and commits not to reverse the most important overhauls of the bailout agreement.

“Both sides have clearly given themselves room for maneuver to strike a deal ahead,” Nick Kounis, head of macro and financial markets research at ABN Amro Bank NV in Amsterdam, wrote in a client note. “Measures to ease Greece’s debt burden could be taken in steps conditional on the country delivering on its reform commitments.”

European Debt

The yield on Greek three-year notes is still up from 10.08 percent before Jan. 25 elections swept the anti-austerity Syriza party to power. Greek 10-year bond yields dropped 0.34 percentage point to 10.40 percent on Tuesday. That’s up from 8.41 percent on Jan. 23.

Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.36 percent. The rate on similar-maturity Treasury notes was 1.98 percent. The U.S. will auction $24 billion of three-year notes on Tuesday, the first of three auctions this week.

The euro fell against most of its 16 major peers, dropping 0.3 percent to $1.1284. Norway’s krone strengthened after inflation data beat analyst estimates, gaining 0.5 percent to 8.5830 per euro.

Apple Inc. will sell at least 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.1 billion) of bonds in its debut offering in the currency, according to a person familiar with the matter. The iPhone maker is marketing a minimum of 700 million francs of bonds maturing November 2024 and at least 300 million francs of notes due February 2030, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

Bearish Factor

Oil fell as the International Energy Agency said the U.S. will remain the biggest contributor to global growth in oil supplies to 2020. OPEC’s attempts to defend its market share will hurt other suppliers including Russia more, the IEA said.

“Inventories are the main bearish factor right now,” said Axel Herlinghaus, senior commodities strategist at DZ Bank AG in Frankfurt. “I don’t think the Saudis are interested in prices above $60 a barrel before the next OPEC meeting.”

BP Plc and BG Group Plc shares slipped more than 2 percent in London trading. The Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.2 percent.

UBS Group AG fell 4.8 percent after warning that a strong franc and negative interest rates may hurt profitability. Michelin & Cie slid 5.4 percent as Europe’s largest tiremaker posted full-year earnings that missed analysts’ estimates.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG added 6.5 percent. Eastern Europe’s second-biggest lender said it will scale back its Russian business and sell its Polish unit.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dropped 0.6 percent. The world’s largest oil exporter had the outlook on its credit grade cut to negative by S&P. The rating company lowered the grades of Oman, Bahrain, Kazakhstan and Venezuela by one step, citing lower oil prices.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong gained 0.4 percent. China’s consumer-price index rose 0.8 percent from a year earlier, compared with the median projection for a 1 percent increase in a survey of analysts by Bloomberg News. The slide in factory gate prices deepened to 4.3 percent, extending a stretch of declines to 35 months.

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