Crude Oil
West Texas Intermediate oil dropped to a two-week low and Brent fell on signs that the insurgency in Iraq won’t curb output and as U.S. stockpiles climbed. Iraq’s crude exports will increase next month, Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi said yesterday. Government forces repelled an attack Iraq and the Levant north of Baghdad. U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 1.74 million barrels to 388.1 million last week, the Energy Information Administration said yesterday. WTI for August delivery slipped 66 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $105.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the lowest settlement since June 11. Futures are up 7.5 percent this year.
Gold
Gold fell, ending a six-session rally, damping demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Gold headed for the second straight quarterly gain, the longest rally since 2011, as mounting tensions in Iraq and Ukraine spurred demand for a haven. The price rose 6.8 percent in the three months ended March 31, partly on concern that the U.S. economy was stalling. The precious metal climbed 70 percent from December 2008 to June 2011 as the Fed bought debt and held borrowing costs near zero percent. gold dropped 0.4 percent at $1,317.