Crude Oil
West Texas Intermediate, the North American crude benchmark, fell 12 percent last month and has shed a quarter of its value since touching a $107.30 high this year on June 20, closing at $80.54 a barrel last week. Even before the recent decline, companies began to pull back on oil-sands investments because of higher costs and transportation bottlenecks,. European oil producers Statoil ASA (NYSE:STO) ASA and Total Sa OTC (OTC:TTFNF) this year said they would halt plans to development some of their oil sands assets.
Gold
Gold extended declines today after sliding 2.2 percent Oct. 31 and touching $1,161.35, its lowest intraday price since July 2010. The precious metal dropped 4.7 percent last week to cap a second straight monthly loss. its lowest level since February 2010. The dollar jumped to an almost seven-year high, gold fell as slowing Chinese manufacturing growth and the Bank of Japan’s unexpected stimulus highlighted the diverging growth outlook for the U.S.
