May 17 2013 8:03 AM

A strong dollar and demand worries kept Brent under pressure on Friday morning after news that the US Federal Reserve may end its monetary stimulus lifted the greenback. Brent is poised to end the week with little change and traded at $104.15 at 9:41 GMT on Friday morning. CNBC reported that three Federal Reserve officials were calling for an end to the US central bank's monetary stimulus program. The news strengthened the dollar and made oil more expensive to holders of other currencies. Moving forward, most will be watching for major changes in the dollar, as the greenback is expected to drive oil prices in the short term.

May 17 2013 7:52 AM

Highlighting fourth-quarter 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was noted hedge fund legends David Einhorn and George Soros held sizable stakes in the largest gold miners ETF, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX [FREE Stock Trend Analysis]). To be fair to Soros, during the fourth quarter, he pared his stakes in GDX and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) by 800,000 and 400,000 shares, but he still owned 1.5 million shares of GDX and about two million shares of GDXJ at the end of the quarter.

May 16 2013 7:55 AM

Oil prices continued their decline for the sixth trading session (basis WTI) in row as the current fundamentals point to lower prices. The market remains focused on projections for lower oil demand growth, robust supply and building inventories. Yesterday total crude oil and refined product inventories built again in the US by 2.6 million barrels (see below for a more detailed discussion on this week's inventory report). Further adding to the concern in the market has been macroeconomic data that continues to suggest that the global economy is faltering. Yesterday GDP data out of Europe showed France now moving into recession with the overall EU recession deepening a tad last quarter.

May 16 2013 7:44 AM

Brent crude oil slid toward $103 on Thursday following an unexpected drop in US factory output. The data added to uncertainty about future demand and brought Brent prices down to $103.14 at 9:20 GMT on Thursday morning. A steep drop in US factory output caused concern among investors who worried about the state of the global economy. Many attributed the lack of demand for exports to the ongoing eurozone recession and sluggish growth in China.

May 16 2013 7:27 AM

You can find now the optimism of having a closer ending of the Fed’s QE at the price of gold which is traded below 1400$ no per ounce after it had been well buoyed following the credit crisis because of that policy which is still underpinning the assets prices in US and you can see that also at the current unprecedented prices in US equities market which pushed up the risk appetite in Europe and Asia too while the treasuries are still also well-supported watching markedly falling of its yields since the worries about the US labor market has increased with the release of March labor report which suggested continued support by the Fed to it and this stance has not changed even after April report which came better than expected.