Oil prices continued to fall today, dropping at the same time below $ 46 a barrel amid speculation that US stocks rose at the end of last week. Pressure oil also had statements by the Minister of the UAE oil industry, which again confirmed that OPEC will not cut production.

Failed to improve market sentiment even positive data from China, the second largest oil consumer in the world. As it became known, the volume of oil imports to China in December rose to a record high. General Administration of Customs reported chtov last month, China imported 30.37 million tons of oil, which corresponds to 7.2 million barrels per day. This is 13% more than in the same period last year. In December, the volume of oil imports to China exceeded the record high in January 2014 28,160,000 tons. "The absence of any reaction on the oil market participants data from China indicates that demand factors play no role in the present time, and now dominates the supply factor," - noted in the note by Commerzbank.

Also, market participants continue to win back yesterday's forecasts from analysts Goldman Sachs. Recall, the bank's analysts have lowered the forecast average Brent price in 2015 to $ 50.40 per barrel from $ 83.75, and the forecast for WTI - up to $ 47.15 per barrel from $ 73.75. In their opinion, investments in shale oil will decline if the US standard would cost about $ 40 a significant portion of the first half. "A series of pessimistic forecasts for oil prices made by analysts, putting pressure on prices," - said in a statement the bank ANZ.

In addition, investors are expected to publish a report tomorrow on reserves from US Department of Energy. According to forecasts, the oil reserves at the end of last week rose by 1.75 million barrels - up to 384.1 million barrels, which is 8% higher than the average for this time of the year for the last five years. Any significant change in US Department of Energy forecasts of demand and supply of oil can lead to changes in oil prices.

The cost of the February futures on US light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) dropped to 45.71 dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

February futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mix fell $ 1.23 to $ 45.96 a barrel on the London Stock Exchange ICE Futures Europe.

Gold futures rose today, while reaching the 11-week high, driven by speculation about a Greek exit from the euro zone.

According to surveys, two weeks before the parliamentary elections in Greece, with a small margin is still leading opposition party, which opposes the program cuts in social spending. There are rumors that Greece may exit the euro zone if the opposition party wins the election, but on Sunday the leader of the party said that Greece will remain part of the eurozone.

Analysts believe that gold is going up because of the growing demand for safer assets than you can buy in the stock market and in comparison with the US dollar. At the same time, at the end of 2015 gold could drop to new lows, noted in Barclays. "We expect that gold prices will flock to new lows in 2015, met with strong obstacles in the form of a strengthening of the dollar against the euro to levels that were observed more than 10 years, and the first nine years of rising interest rates in the United States," - said in a report of the bank's market dragmetalov.

Some investors worried that the recent fall in oil prices have a negative impact on the energy-exporting countries and worsen the state of the global economy. On the dynamics of trade is also affected by uncertainty about the timing of the Fed raising rates. Market participants expect growth rates in June, now believe that the Fed may hold off on such a step, as wage growth in the US slowed in December, despite a substantial increase in employment. In addition, the fall of oil prices to a minimum of 5.5 years, putting downward pressure on inflation in the country, which is also an argument in favor of more recent rate hikes.

Meanwhile, the pressure on prices has the situation in the US stock market. The demand for gold as a safe asset faded against the background of solid growth in US equity markets. Meanwhile, the yield on 10-year bonds recovered in the area of 1.933%. Gold can go into the red zone, if the stock markets continue to rally, stimulating the growth of bond yields.

The cost of the February gold futures on the COMEX today rose to 1235.60 dollars per ounce.

Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate continue to slump today for a third consecutive day with Crude trading below USD45 a barrel amid speculations on increasing U.S. stockpiles. Prices are trading near 6-year lows as Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale cut its short-term outlook for oil prices yesterday as the OPEC still resists to cut output and global demand is weakening. Today OPEC officials re-affirmed that the organization is going to fight for market share, blaming the U.S. shale drillers of oversupplying the market. Mohammed al-Mazroui statet that the "strategy will not change" at a Gulf energy conference in Abu Dhabi and that high-cost producers should be the first to cut production.

Market participants look ahead to the U.S. API Crude Oil Inventories due at 21:30 GMT to get further information on the strength of demand of the world's largest consumer of oil.

Brent Crude lost -3.67%, currently trading at USD45.69 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate declined by -3.32% currently quoted at USD44.54 adding to this week's massive sell-off.

Gold prices rose in today's session for a third consecutive day with the precious metal currently quoted at USD1,239.40, +0,51% a troy ounce, a three-month high. Intraday gold traded as high as USD1,243.90.

Gold in recent days has been supported, as political uncertainty in Greece and concerns about the impact of falling oil prices on the global economy led investors to buy the precious metal. Also growing speculations that FED will keep rates on hold for longer after mixed U.S. job data with a surprise drop in hourly wages on Friday supported the metal.

Bullion will remain under pressure in 2015 as the U.S. dollar remains strong boosted by the diverging policy outlook between the Fed and central banks in Europe and Japan and stocks markets continue to rise.

GOLD currently trading at USD1,239.40

REUTERS

Oil prices plunge again as UAE defends holding production

(Reuters) - Oil prices continued their rout on Tuesday with Brentcrude and U.S. WTI both falling to their lowest in almost six years as a big OPEC producer stood by the group's decision not to cut output to tackle a glut in the market.

Oil prices have fallen 60 percent from their 2014 peaks hit in June in a rout that has seen a collapse of more than 36 percent in the past seven weeks.

February Brent crude fell almost 5 percent to a low of $45.23 a barrel by 0730 GMT, the lowest since March 2009. U.S. crude for February was trading at $44.44 a barrel, its weakest since April 2009.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/13/us-markets-oil-idUSKBN0KM0BT20150113

BLOOMBERG

ECB Warning to Greece Deploys Tactic Honed in Crisis

The European Central Bank is threatening to choke off funding to Greece's lenders in the hope it won't actually need to.

Parliamentary elections on Jan. 25 hinge on whether Greek voters are willing to accept a strings-attached successor to the country's international bailout package. Under President Mario Draghi, the Frankfurt-based ECB has made its position clear: No program means no guarantee of cash from us.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-13/ecb-warning-to-greece-deploys-tactic-honed-in-crisis.html

BLOOMBERG

Pound Weakens as Inflation Weighs on U.K. Interest-Rate Outlook

The pound fell for the first time in five days versus the euro before a report economists said will show U.K. inflation slowed to below 1 percent last month for the first time since 2002.

Weakening price growth would add to data indicating the U.K. recovery is losing momentum and boost speculation that the Bank of England will keep interest rates at a record low. Consumer prices rose an annualized 0.7 percent in December after climbing at a 1 percent pace a month earlier, according to the median forecast of analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. A gauge of U.K. inflation expectations touched the lowest in more than two years.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-13/pound-weakens-as-inflation-weighs-on-u-k-interest-rate-outlook.html

(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Light Crude 45.71 -0.78%

Gold 1,233.40 +0.05%