Commodities declined, heading for the biggest quarterly loss since 2008, as European leaders struggled to tame the region’s sovereign-debt crisis, spurring concern that the global economy may lapse into recession. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index fell as much as 0.9 percent to 598.05 and was at 601.94 at 12:21 p.m. in Singapore. The gauge is set for a quarterly decline of 10 percent, the worst since the final three months of 2008. Copper fell as much as 5.9 percent to $6,821 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange and soybeans declined to the lowest level in 10 months. The European Commission is resisting a push to impose bigger writedowns on bank holdings of Greek sovereign debt than those previously agreed on, a European official said. More than half of the global investors surveyed by Bloomberg predict that growth in China will slow to less than 5 percent a year by 2016, while 43 percent expect a world recession within the next year. “Commodity prices are factoring in the fact that we’re not recovering in a quick fashion,” Andrew Gardner, an analyst at MF Global Australia Ltd., said from Sydney. The price declines are “justified for the low-growth environment we are in.” The S&P GSCI measure of 24 raw materials has slumped 21 percent since reaching a 32-month high in April, and has shed 4.6 percent this year. Equities as measured by the MSCI All- Country Index have lost 14 percent this year, while Treasures gained 8.3 percent, according to Bank of America indexes. Durable Goods U.S. bookings for goods like computers and communications gear, excluding military hardware and aircraft, climbed 1.1 percent in August, the most since May, a Commerce Department report showed yesterday in Washington. Demand for all durable goods dropped 0.1 percent, less than forecast. Fifty-nine percent of respondents to the Bloomberg poll said China’s economy, which rose 9.5 percent last quarter, will gain less than 5 percent annually by 2016. Twelve percent see such a slowdown within a year, and 47 percent said it will occur in two to five years, according to poll of investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers. Copper for delivery in three months lost 3.1 percent to $7,023.25 a ton, bringing the quarterly loss to 25.5 percent, the worst since the last three months of 2008. November-delivery soybeans lost as much as 1.2 percent to $12.0925 per bushel, the lowest price for the most-active contract on the Chicago Board of Trade since Nov. 23. Oil Rebounds Crude for November delivery reversed a loss of 1.9 percent to gain 0.2 percent to $81.40 per barrel, paring the most-active contract’s loss to 15 percent for the quarter. Brent crude will average $100 a barrel next year, compared with a previous projection of $130, because of increasing supply and weaker demand, Morgan Stanley analysts led by New York-based Hussein Allidina said today in a report. Spot gold advanced 0.6 percent at $1,618.23 an ounce, still 16 percent below the record $1,921.15 reached on Sept. 6. Silver jumped as much as 3 percent to $30.7425 an ounce. Investors are being attracted by gold prices of about $1,600, Soozhana Choi, head of commodities research for Asia at Deutsche Bank AG, said at a briefing in Singapore today. “Factors that have driven gold higher over the course of the past few years, these factors are still in place,” she said, referring to low real interest rates and central-bank buying. 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

Source