*from www.bloomberg.com, April 15, 2013 (To view original article click here.)
Take Away #1: Commodities fell to a nine-month low, led by gold and silver.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Investors speculated hedges against inflation were unneeded.
- Silver tumbled as much as 11.5%, extending its 6% drop on April 12.
- Gold futures plunged as much as 9.7% for the biggest drop since 1980.
- The S&P GSCI fell to its lowest since July as gold for June delivery traded as low as $1,355.30 an ounce.
- Gold futures may fall to $1,310 in June even as the worst of the selling is over, said Sterling Smith of Citigroup Inc.
- The S&P GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials dropped 2% at 12:34 p.m. in New York.
- Oil in New York slipped as much as 3.8% to$87.86 a barrel, the biggest loss this year.
- Copper declined 2.1% to $3.28 a pound, the lowest level since October 2011.
Take Away #2: Stocks slid as China’s growth unexpectedly slowed.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The S&P 500 dropped 1.4% to 1,567.25 at 1:13 p.m. in New York.
- The index has lost 1.6% since April 11, the biggest two-day slide since February.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased 153.52 points, or 1%, to 14,711.54.
- The Russell 2000 Index retreated 2.7%, the most on a closing basis in 10 months.
- Trading in the S&P 500 stocks was 37% above the 30-day average at this time of day.
- Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index sank 1.9% to bring its two day slump to 3%, its worst since June.
- The MSCI All-Country World Index and the S&P 500 Index each lost 1.1%.
- The Shanghai Composite Index capped a 10% retreat from this year’s peak.
- China’s economic growth lost momentum as factory output weakened last month.
- The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies traded in Hong King slid 2%, the most in a week.
- China’s economy grew 7.7% in the first quarter from a year earlier, less than the 8% median of 41 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
- Manufacturing in the New York region expanded less than projected in April, according to a report from the Federal Reserve bank of New York.
Take Away #3: The yen and dollar strengthened against most major peers, while currencies of commodity-exporting weakened the most against the dollar and treasuries were little changed.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Japan’s currency appreciated against 15 of 16 major peers, climbing 0.6% to 128.25 per euro.
- Europe’s shared currency slipped 0.2% to $1.3081.
- The dollar gained against 12 of 16 major peers.
- The won strengthened against its 16 major peers, climbing .9% versus the dollar, after the U.S. agreed to work with China, Japan, and South Korea to lure North Korea back into nuclear talks.
- New Zealand’s dollar slid 1.2%.
- South Africa’s rand weakened 2.1%.
- The Australian dollar dropped 1.1%.
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 1.71%.
- The cost of insuring European corporate bonds from non-payment rose to the highest in almost a week.
- The Markit iTraxx Europe index added 1.5 basis points to 112.5 basis points, according to Bloomberg.
- In the Asia-Pacific region, the Markit iTraxx Japan index rose 2 basis points in Tokyo trading to 90, up from three-year low.
Take Away #4: The turn in the gold cycle is quickening and investors should sell the metal Goldman Sachs said in an April 10 recommendation that returned 5.4% in three days.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Investors increased net-long positions by 19% to 56,084 futures and options in the week ended April 9, the first gain in three weeks.
- That contrasts with a 7.9% decline in bullish wagers across 18 U.S.-traded raw materials, which fell to a five-week low of 431,581 contracts.
- Holdings in agriculture dropped to the lowest since September 2006.
- Raw material producers lost 3.2% as a group.
- Energy shares slid 2.5% to lead declines in the 10 main industries in the MSCI world Index.
- Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Newmont Mining Corp. lost more than 5.5%.
- Investors increased net-long positions by 19% to 56,084 futures and options in the week ended April 9, the first gain in three weeks.
- That contrasts with a 7.9% decline in bullish wagers across 18 U.S.-traded raw materials, which fell to a five-week low of 431,581 contracts.
Take Away #5: Problems in the euro-area economic landscape still loom large,” said European Central Bank President Mario Draghi
Key Facts and Figures:
- Monetary policy can’t address the root cause of the sovereign debt crisis and it’s up to governments to enact structural reforms, said Draghi.
- “Undertaking structural reforms, budget consolidation, and restoring bank balance-sheet health is neither the responsibility nor the mandate of monetary policy,” Draghi said.
Take Away #6: Emerging markets retreat.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell for a second day, retreating 1.3%.
- India’s Sensex index gained 0.6% after a report showed lower-than-estimated inflation.
- Venezuela’s dollar bonds fell, sending the yield on notes due in 2027 up 21 basis points to 9.29%.
*To view original article from www.bloomberg.com click here.