SF: Commodities Tumble as Stocks Slide on China Slowdown; Yen Gains
April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Commodities fell to a nine-month low, led by gold and silver, and stocks dropped as China’s economic growth unexpectedly slowed in the first quarter. U.S. equity-index futures declined, while the yen strengthened.
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials dropped 1.4 percent at 8:35 a.m. in New York after silver tumbled more than 11 percent and gold traded below $1,400 an ounce. Oil sank to less than $90 a barrel and copper declined to the lowest level since 2011. The MSCI All-Country World Index slid 0.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index capped a 10 percent retreat from this year’s peak and S&P 500 Index futures lost 0.4 percent. Japan’s currency appreciated for a third day versus the dollar, gaining 0.7 percent to 97.74.
China’s economic growth lost momentum as factory output weakened last month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing. Manufacturing in the New York region expanded less than projected in April, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“Expectations were for a slightly stronger performance in China, given recent surveys have been showing growth in credit and a pickup in exports,” said Henk Potts, who helps oversee about $282 billion as an equity strategist at Barclays Plc in London. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the market were to pull back in the short term given the tremendous rally. Any significant weakness should be seen as an opportunity to increase exposure.”
Metals Tumble
The S&P GSCI fell to the lowest since July 12. Oil in New York slipped as much as 3.6 percent to $88.05 a barrel, the biggest loss this year, and copper declined 3.5 percent.
Silver tumbled as much as 11.5 percent, extending its 6 percent drop on April 12, before trading down 8.4 percent. Gold fell 5.1 percent to $1,407.91 an ounce, after dropping as much as 6.6 percent to $1,385.55, the lowest since March 2011.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.8 percent as a gauge of basic-resources producers slid to the lowest level since October 2011. Randgold Resources Ltd., a miner of the precious metal in West Africa, and Kazakhmys Plc, Kazakhstan’s biggest copper producer, lost more than 6 percent in London trading.
The retreat in S&P 500 futures indicated the U.S. gauge will extend April 12’s 0.3 percent decline. Newmont Mining Corp., the largest U.S. gold miner, dropped 5.9 percent. Vancouver-based Pan American Silver Corp. slid 8 percent in pre- market trading and Kinross Gold Corp. lost 7.1 percent. Newmont Mining Corp., the largest U.S. gold miner, dropped 4.6 percent.
Citigroup Profit
The Fed Bank of New York’s general economic index dropped to 3.1 this month from 9.2 in March. Readings exceeding zero signal expansion in New York, northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut. The median projection of 47 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 7.
Citigroup Inc., the third-biggest U.S. bank, rose 1.1 percent after reporting profit jumped 30 percent in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Corp. is also scheduled to report earnings today.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell for a second day, retreating 0.9 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies traded in Hong Kong slid 2 percent, the most in a week. China’s economy grew 7.7 in the first quarter from a year earlier, less than the 8 percent median of 41 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Industrial production rose 8.9 percent in March, compared with a 10.1 percent forecast. Russia’s Micex Index sank 2.1 percent, the most in a month.
India’s Sensex index gained 0.6 percent after a report showed lower-than-estimated inflation. Venezuela’s dollar bonds fell, sending the yield on notes due in 2027 up 38 basis points higher to 9.54 percent, after ex-President Hugo Chavez’s handpicked successor, Nicolas Maduro, won emergency elections by one percentage point over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.
