Crude oil fell, extending its second- weekly loss, as a U.S. payrolls report showed employers added fewer jobs last month than expected, pushing down stocks and other commodities.
Source: Bloomberg.com
Natural gas futures declined for a third day on speculation that the weather won’t be cold enough to trim a surplus of the heating fuel.
Gas fell as much as 1.8 percent as temperatures may be normal or above-normal in the Northeast through Jan. 21, according to Commodity Weather Group in Bethesda, Maryland. Supplies of gas as of Dec. 31 were 6.5 percent above the five- year average, the Energy Department said yesterday.
“There’s no shortage of gas, bottom line,” said Ed Kennedy, a trader at INTL Hencorp Futures in Miami. “The $4.60 to $4.70 range should be about it to the upside. We need a very cold February forecast to go higher than that.”
Natural gas for February delivery fell 6.2 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $4.372 per million British thermal units at 11:26 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have declined 0.7 percent this week.
Source: Bloomberg.com
U.S. ETF assets topped $1 trillion for the first time in December, as a year-end rally in global equity markets and another strong month of inflows pushed the industry past the milestone. ETF assets also finished the year above this key mark, according to the latest data from the National Stock Exchange, representing an increase of 28% over the previous year. Since the end of 2005, ETF assets have grown by nearly 225%.
Source: etfdb.com/features/