Crude Oil
Crude has collapsed into a bear market amid the highest U.S. output in three decades and signs of slowing demand growth. The 12-member group, which pumps about 40 percent of the world’s oil, will discuss its official production target of 30 million barrels a day at meeting. Crude closed at the lowest level in more than four years amid skepticism OPEC ministers will come to an agreement that trims a supply glut behind a five-month slide in prices.
GOLD
Gold traded near the highest level in three weeks as investors weighed increased stimulus around the world, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said last week that the ECB will broaden asset purchases if needed, while the Bank of Japan last month boosted its bond buying to a record annual pace. In China, the world’s largest consumer, gold imports from Hong Kong rose for a third month in October, according to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department yesterday. Volumes for the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s benchmark contract have topped this year’s daily average of about 14,877 kilograms every day since Oct. 8 through yesterday.
