Commodities fell, widening their second quarterly loss, as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis threatened to slow global growth and reduce raw-material demand. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index slid 0.8 percent to 614.81 as of 12 p.m. Singapore time and headed for a quarterly decline of 8.1 percent, the worst since the last three months of 2008. The gauge rose 3.3 percent yesterday, the most in more than four months. Crude oil fell 1.3 percent in New York while copper retreated 2 percent and gold shed 0.4 percent. Commerce Department data today may show U.S. durable goods orders fell and a separate report may confirm European consumer confidence dropped to a two-year low in September. As many as seven of the 17 nations using the euro believe private creditors should absorb bigger losses, a division that may threaten an agreement reached with investors in July, the Financial Times reported today, citing unidentified European officials. “As the uncertainties linger, investors prefer to be cautious and stay on the sidelines,” said Chung Yang Ker, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures Pte, from Singapore today. Confidence among U.S. consumers stagnated in September near a two-year low as the share of households saying it was difficult to find a job climbed to the highest level in almost three decades, a report said yesterday. Recession Risk Investors have sold raw materials on concern the global economy is slowing three years after the global financial crisis that shut banks and spurred economic contractions. Most advanced nations are lapsing back into recession while the U.S. is already in the throes of an economic contraction, said Nouriel Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics LLC. Money managers cut the combined net-long position across 18 futures and options by 20 percent in the week ended Sept. 20, the most since February 2010, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission show. Crude for November delivery slid 1.3 percent to $83.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract yesterday climbed 5.3 percent to $84.45, the biggest gain since May 9. Copper for delivery in three months fell 2 percent to $7,439.75 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Gold dropped 0.4 percent to $1,644.4 an ounce, paring this quarter’s gains to 9.6 percent, a 12th consecutive such rally. December-delivery wheat dropped 1 percent to $6.52 a bushel. To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in Singapore at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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