KUALA LUMPUR (Agen-cies): Commodities headed for weekly declines on Friday as European leaders’ lack of specific measures to contain the debt crisis stoked concern about weaker growth in the region’s bigger economies France and Germany. Spot gold slipped 0.7 percent, set for its second week of losses. Copper on the London Metal Exchange has fallen 4.3 percent this week after tumbling to a one-month low on Thursday, and U.S. crude declined for a second week. “There’s still a long way to go before this crisis is resolved,” said Ang Kok Heng, who helps manage about $400 million as chief investment officer at Phillip Capital Management in Kuala Lumpur. “They will have to come up with a plan that investors are confident will work. The key word being ‘confidence’.”While trading has been thin because of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, investors are watching data next week for signs of an economic recovery in the United States, the world’s largest oil user, and any ratings cut for European nations. Fitch Ratings lowered Portugal’s sovereign debt ratings to junk status on Thursday and Moody’s cut Hungary’s ratings.U.S. new home sales for October and monthly home prices for September will be released next week.Tokyo’s Nikkei share average held near its lowest level in more than two years and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 1.4 percent. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange eased 0.9 percent to $7,200 a tonne. The metal has declined for a fourth week, having fallen to a one-month low of $7,100.25 on Thursday. Turmoil in the Middle East, and winter demand, gave oil more resilience than other commodities.France’s call for sanctions on Iranian oil exports, and any potential military action, may cut supply from OPEC’s second-largest producer and disrupt trade at the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit channel.“Escalation of rhetoric towards Iran’s nuclear programme has supported oil prices in recent weeks, competing with the gloomy economic headlines as the main driver of oil prices,” Gordon Kwan, head of energy research at Mirae Assets Securities in Hong Kong, said in a research note.Brent crude oil futures were at $107.34 a barrel, down 44 cents, after earlier hitting a low of $107.30. The contract is little changed this week, after declining more than 6 percent last week.U.S. crude is set for a second week of decline. The January contract slipped 4 cents to $96.13 a barrel at 0726 GMT on Friday.Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn for December delivery fell 0.55 percent to $5.85-1/2 per bushel. Prices were on track for a 4.1 percent weekly drop, the third straight decline.
