European stocks declined for a fourth day, with the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index falling to its lowest level this year, as commodity producers and automakers slid.

U.K. unemployment rose at its fastest pace in more than a year and wage increases slowed. Unemployment as measured by International Labour Organisation methods rose by 70,000 to 2.56 million in the three months through February, the most since November 2011, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast of 27 economists in a survey was for the rate to stay unchanged.

A separate release showed that Bank of England Governor Mervyn King was defeated for a third month in a push for more stimulus. Six of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep the target for quantitative easing at 375 billion pounds ($575 billion) this month, the central bank said in the minutes of the April 3-4 meeting, published in London today. King, David Miles and Paul Fisher wanted to increase it by 25 billion pounds.

National benchmark indexes declined in 16 of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slipped 1 percent, Germany’s DAX Index slid 2.3 percent and France’s CAC 40 lost 2.4 percent.

BHP Billiton dropped 3.4 percent to 1,779 pence. Output of iron ore, its biggest earner, was 40.2 million metric tons in the three months to March 31, missing the median estimate of 42.3 million tons in a survey.

A gauge of European mining companies slid to its lowest level since July 2009, with Rio Tinto Group and Anglo American Plc retreating 3.6 percent to 2,854.5 pence, and 2.1 percent to 1,553 pence, respectively.

Preferred shares of Volkswagen lost 2.9 percent to 141.45 euros. BMW decreased 2.8 percent to 65 euros. European car sales are heading toward a 20-year low as registrations in March fell 10 percent, led by Germany’s auto market, which plummeted 17 percent, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said today.

Tesco declined 3.9 percent to 369.8 pence after the U.K.’s largest retailer said it will exit the U.S. and took a 1.2 billion-pound charge to end the Fresh & Easy business. So-called trading profit fell 13 percent to 3.45 billion pounds in the 52 weeks ended Feb. 23, the company said.

BASF SE slid 3.8 percent to 65.55 euros, its lowest price in almost five months, after Nomura Holdings Inc. cut its recommendation on the world’s biggest chemicals maker to neutral, the equivalent of hold, from buy, citing above-average downside risks to consensus forecasts.

West Texas Intermediate oil tumbled for the fourth time in five days as U.S. production rose to the highest level in two decades last week and U.S. equities fell.

Prices dropped as much as 2.2 percent after the Energy Information Administration said output climbed to 7.2 million barrels a day, the most since July 1992, and gasoline and diesel demand decreased. Crude output gained 0.4 percent in the week ended April 12, the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, reported. Gasoline consumption dropped for a second week to 8.38 million barrels a day. Demand for distillate fuels, including diesel and heating oil, tumbled 5.9 percent to 3.63 million barrels a day.

Crude stockpiles decreased 1.23 million barrels to 387.6 million last week, the EIA said. They were at the highest level since July 1990 in the prior week. Analysts had forecast a gain of 1.2 million. Imports of crude slumped 3.7 percent to 7.43 million barrels a day, a third consecutive decline.

Oil extended losses as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid a day after the biggest rally in three months and the dollar strengthened against the euro.

BNP Paribas reduced its 2013 forecasts for Brent and WTI to reflect the price drop in the first quarter. It trimmed its 2013 Brent estimate to $108 a barrel from $115 and WTI to $95 from $100, while advising investors to bet on a rebound in the second half of the year.

WTI for May delivery fell to $86.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent for June settlement slipped $1.99, or 2 percent, to $97.92 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract touched $97.85, the lowest intraday level since July 11. 

Gold prices are rising due to increased demand for bars and coins after the fall in prices to two-year low yesterday.

Since the beginning of the year, spot prices have decreased by 18 percent after 12 years of growth, which led to high demand for physical precious metals.

Premiums for the gold bars in Singapore to spot prices in London rose to a maximum of 18 months of $ 1.70 per ounce, but demand in the largest consumer of gold in India is surprisingly low, despite the wedding season. Parents usually give their daughters gold jewelry for the wedding.

Stocks of the world's largest exchange-traded fund backed by gold (ETF) SPDR Gold Trust on Tuesday fell 0.73 percent to 1.145,92 tons. Market participants fear that the debt-ridden euro zone countries after Cyprus will decide to sell some gold reserves.

Credit Suisse warns that "for a period of one to six months, the risk of lower prices, given the negative trend and neutral fundamentals. We lower forecast for the three months to the negative and expect the price to three months will be $ 1,300."

The cost of the June gold futures on COMEX today rose to 1395.2 dollars per ounce.

EUR/USD $1.3035, $1.3100, $1.3125

USD/JPY Y97.50, Y98.00, Y99.50, Y100.30

AUD/USD $1.0400, $1.0500, $1.0575

GBP/USD $1.5300, $1.5310, $1.5385

USD/CAD C$1.0125, C$1.0200

U.S. stock futures fell, signaling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will retreat after yesterday’s rally, amid disappointing results from companies from Bank of America Corp. to Yahoo! Inc.

Global Stocks:

Nikkei  13,382.89 +161.45 +1.22%

Hang Seng 21,569.67 -102.36 -0.47%

Shanghai Composite 2,193.8 -1.05 -0.05%

FTSE  6,267.49 -37.09 -0.59%

CAC  3,630.28 -55.51 -1.51%

DAX 7,552.32 -130.26 -1.70%

Crude oil $87.89 -0.94%

Gold $1383.20 - 0.30%

Upgrades:

Intel (INTC) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Drexel Hamilton

Yahoo! (YHOO) upgraded from Neutral to Buy at BofA/Merrill

Other:

Yahoo! (YHOO) reiterated at Buy at Stifel, target raised from $25 to $27

Data

00:30 Australia Leading Index February +0.4% +0.6%

05:00 Japan Consumer Confidence March 44.3 46.7 44.8

08:30 United Kingdom Average earnings ex bonuses, 3 m/y February +1.2% +1.1% +1.0%

08:30 United Kingdom Bank of England Minutes April

08:30 United Kingdom ILO Unemployment Rate February 7.8% 7.8% 7.9%

08:30 United Kingdom Average Earnings, 3m/y February +1.2% +1.4% +0.8%

08:30 United Kingdom Claimant count March -5.3 0.0 -7.0

08:30 United Kingdom Claimant Count Rate March 4.7% 4.7% 4.6%

09:00 Eurozone Construction Output, m/m February -1.4% -0.8%

09:00 Eurozone Construction Output, y/y February -7.3% +0.8%

09:00 Switzerland Credit Suisse ZEW Survey (Expectations) April 2.3 20.0

The pound dropped significantly against the dollar, having lost in the course of about a half of trading figures. Note on the dynamics of trade have affected the data that have been published by the Office for National Statistics, and showed that the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last month, surprising with many experts. According to the report, in March the number of applications dropped by 7,000, reaching with a total of 1,530,000 applications. Note that according to the average forecast of economists, the value of this index was to remain unchanged. We also recall that in the period between February and January, the number of applications for benefits fell by 5,300, which was revised from the level of 1.5 million In addition, it was reported that the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.6 percent, compared with forecasts to increase to the level of 4.7 percent. Meanwhile, we note that the unemployment rate, which is calculated by the ILO, during the three months to February was 7.9 percent, compared with 7.7 percent in the three months to November. Note that many economists expect unemployment to a level only 7.8 percent. The Office for National Statistics also reported that in the period between December and February in the UK was recorded 2.56 million people unemployed, which is 70,000 more than in September and November 2012.

In addition, the minutes of the Bank of England from April 3-4, published today, showed that the MPC voted unanimously for having to leave rates unchanged at 0.5%. As for the asset purchase program at £ 375 billion, six members voted for its preservation, and three against. The head Mervyn King, David Miles and Paul Fisher, who voted against, chose to increase it by £ 25 billion to £ 400 billion As the protocol, the IFA has confirmed recent reports that were in line with expectations, and that "the promotion by funding programs lending and asset purchases could provide a gradual economic recovery, although there were signs that the pace of credit growth has slowed, and net lending is still reduced. "

Value of the dollar rose sharply against the euro, which was partly due to the fact that the French government presented a stability program. As it became known to reduce the budget deficit in 2014 will be 70% achieved through spending cuts. Meanwhile, it was noted that the budget deficit should amount to 2% of GDP in 2015 and 1.2% of GDP in 2016, the debt will peak at 94.3% of GDP in 2014 against 93.6% in 2013 g, and the budget deficit should reach 3.7% of GDP in 2013 and 2.9% in 2014 Note also that the French government predicts GDP growth of 2% in 2015 and beyond.

Also influenced by the dynamics of trade data, which showed that up to February construction output in the euro area has declined, but slowed its pace of decline compared to the previous month, but still, adding signs that the currency bloc can survive its sixth quarterly economic downturn row. Note that this was the fourth consecutive monthly decline. According to the report, the construction of the month in February fell by 0.8 percent, compared with a fall of 2.1 percent in the previous month. Recall that according to initial estimates, the volume of construction in January fell by 1.4 percent.

It is learned that among the Member States, the decline was registered in Poland, Germany and Portugal, but remained unchanged in Spain. In addition, the data showed that the annualized construction output rose in February by 0.8 percent, which followed a fall of 9 per cent in the previous month. The statistical agency also reported that the European Union construction output fell by up to 0.4 percent in February from a month earlier. Note that, in annual terms, the volume of construction in the EU decreased by 1.1 percent.

The yen traded weaker against all major currencies against the measures taken to mitigate the monetary policies adopted by the Bank of Japan, which continue to put pressure on the Japanese yen. Additional pressure on the yen has had a growth stock index of America, which reduced demand for safe haven. Tomorrow will begin the meeting of finance ministers and central banks of the G20. This is the first meeting since then, such as Japan, the third largest economy in the world, has activated a program to combat deflation. Japan is preparing to respond to criticism from foreign colleagues. The U.S. Treasury has said that in the last time watching the large-scale measures the Bank of Japan's monetary stimulus aimed at combating chronic deflation. The sharp fall in the yen exchange rate causes concern because of the possibility of competitive devaluations by trading partners, in the U.S. state the department.

EUR / USD: during the European session, the pair fell to $ 1.3114

GBP / USD: during the European session, the pair fell to $ 1.5227

USD / JPY: during the European session, the pair fell to Y97.60

EUR/USD

Offers $1.3300, $1.3280, $1.3245/50, $1.3220, $1.3195/200

Bids $1.3125/20, $1.3100, $1.3080/75

GBP/USD

Offers $1.5395/00, $1.5370/75, $1.5345/50, $1.5300/20

Bids $1.5250, $1.5225/20, $1.5200, $1.5180/75

AUD/USD

Offers $1.0480, $1.0445/50, $1.0420, $1.0395/00

Bids $1.0340, $1.0330/20, $1.0310/00, $1.0250, $1.0200

USD/JPY

Offers Y99.50, Y99.20, Y99.00, Y98.65/70, Y98.50

Bids Y97.80, Y97.60/50, Y97.30/25, Y97.00, Y96.80

EUR/JPY

Offers Y130.50, Y130.00, Y129.80, Y129.40/50

Bids Y128.50, Y128.20, Y128.00, Y127.85/80, Y127.50

EUR/GBP

Offers stg0.8720, stg0.8700, stg0.8675/80, stg0.8650

Bids stg0.8590/85, stg0.8570/65, stg0.8550, stg0.8520/10, stg0.8500, stg0.8485/80

European stocks fell for a fourth day, the longest losing streak in three months, as a gauge of commodity producers sank to an 18-month low.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) fell 0.8 percent to 285.89 at 10:04 a.m. in London.

U.K. unemployment rose at its fastest pace in more than a year and wage increases slowed. Unemployment as measured by International Labour Organisation methods rose by 70,000 to 2.56 million in the three months through February, the most since November 2011, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast of economists was for the rate to stay unchanged.

A separate release showed that Bank of England Governor Mervyn King was defeated for a third month in a push for more stimulus. Six of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep the target for quantitative easing at 375 billion pounds ($575 billion) this month, the central bank said in the minutes of the April 3-4 meeting, published in London today. King, David Miles and Paul Fisher wanted to increase it

BHP Billiton (BLT) dropped 2.4 percent to 1,797 pence. Output of iron ore, its biggest earner, was 40.2 million metric tons in the three months to March 31, missing the median estimate of 42.3 million tons.

Rio Tinto Group and Anglo American Plc retreating 2.5 percent to 2,888 pence and 2.1 percent to 1,553 pence, respectively.

Tesco declined 2.1 percent to 376.9 pence after the U.K.’s largest retailer said it will exit the U.S. and took a 1.2 billion-pound charge to end the Fresh & Easy business. So-called trading profit fell 13 percent to 3.45 billion pounds in the 52 weeks ended Feb. 23, the company said.

BASF SE slid 2.8 percent to 66.22 euros, contributing the most to the Stoxx 600’s drop, after Nomura Holdings Inc. cut its recommendation on the world’s biggest chemicals maker to neutral, the equivalent of hold, from buy, citing above-average downside risks to consensus forecasts.

At that moment:

FTSE 100 6,270.44 -34.14 -0.54%

CAC 40 3,652.68 -33.11 -0.90%

DAX 7,589.08 -93.50 -1.22%

EUR/USD $1.3035, $1.3100, $1.3125

USD/JPY Y97.50, Y98.00, Y99.50, Y100.30

AUD/USD $1.0400, $1.0500, $1.0575

GBP/USD $1.5300, $1.5310, $1.5385

Asian stocks advanced for the first time in three days as new-home construction in the U.S. jumped more than forecast, the International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for Japanese growth and the yen weakened.

Nikkei 225 13,382.89 +161.45 +1.22%

Hang Seng 21,746.88 +74.85 +0.35%

S&P/ASX 200 5,004.6 +53.75 +1.09%

Shanghai Composite 2,192.16 -2.69 -0.12%

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, advanced 1.8 percent as a weakening yen boosted the earnings outlook for exporters.

Advantest Corp. paced increases in Tokyo among makers of semiconductor equipment after Intel Corp. forecast second- quarter sales that would exceed some analysts’ estimates.

00:30 Australia Leading Index February +0.4% +0.6%

05:00 Japan Consumer Confidence March 44.3 46.7 44.8

The yen fell for a second day against all 16 of its major peers as investors speculated Japan will escape censure at a Group of 20 meeting this week over monetary policies that have weakened its currency. The yen continued a reversal from its biggest two-day rally versus the dollar in almost three years as a gauge of U.S. stock market volatility fell the most this year, sapping demand for the Japanese currency as a haven.

G-20 finance ministers and central bankers meet for two days from tomorrow in Washington, ahead of weekend talks of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. At their last gathering in February, they signaled that Japan could stimulate its stagnant economy as long as policy makers refrained from publicly advocating a sliding yen.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars held gains from yesterday as rallies in stocks and commodity prices boosted demand for higher-yielding assets.

New Zealand’s dollar climbed against most major counterparts after Auckland-based Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd., the world’s largest dairy exporter, said whole milk powder prices rose. Whole milk powder for June delivery rose 4.4 percent to a record $6,283 a metric ton, according to Fonterra’s GlobalDairyTrade website. The so-called kiwi briefly declined after the annual inflation rate held below the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s target range for a third quarter. In New Zealand, consumer prices increased 0.9 percent from a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand said in Wellington today, matching the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey and the forecast from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

EUR / USD: yesterday the pair traded in the range of $ 1.3170-90

GBP / USD: yesterday the pair traded in the range of $ 1.5350-70.

USD / JPY: yesterday the pair rose to Y98.40.

The UK calendar gets underway from 0830GMT, with the release of the UK employment data and the Bank of England minutes from the April meeting.

Change % Change Last

GOLD 1,387.40 26.30 1.90%

OIL (WTI) 88.72 0.01 0.01%

Change % Change Last

Nikkei 225 13,221.44 -54.22 -0.41%

Hang Seng 21,763.94 -8.73 -0.04%

S&P/ASX 200 4,950.8 -17.11 -0.34%

Shanghai Composite 2,194.85 +12.90 +0.59%

FTSE 100 6,304.58 -39.02 -0.62%

CAC 40 3,685.79 -24.69 -0.67%

DAX 7,682.58 -30.05 -0.39%

DJIA 14,756.80 157.58 1.08%

S&P 500 1,574.57 22.21 1.43%

NASDAQ 3,264.63 48.14 1.50%

(pare/closed(00:00 GMT +02:00)/change, %)

EUR/USD $1,3201 +1,17%

GBP/USD $1,5378 +0,57%

USD/CHF Chf0,9221 -0,92%

USD/JPY Y97,78 +1,23%

EUR/JPY Y128,86 +2,19%

GBP/JPY Y150,22 +1,68%

AUD/USD $1,0383 +0,67%

NZD/USD $0,8491 +0,82%

00:30 Australia Leading Index February +0.4% +0.6%

05:00 Japan Consumer Confidence March 44.3 46.7

08:30 United Kingdom Average earnings ex bonuses, 3 m/y February +1.2% +1.1%

08:30 United Kingdom Bank of England Minutes April

08:30 United Kingdom ILO Unemployment Rate February 7.8% 7.8%

08:30 United Kingdom Average Earnings, 3m/y February +1.2% +1.4%

08:30 United Kingdom Claimant count March -1.5 0.0

08:30 United Kingdom Claimant Count Rate March 4.7% 4.7%

09:00 Eurozone Construction Output, m/m February -1.4%

09:00 Eurozone Construction Output, y/y February -7.3%

09:00 Switzerland Credit Suisse ZEW Survey (Expectations) April 2.3

13:30 U.S. FOMC Member James Bullard Speaks April

14:00 Canada Bank of Canada Monetary Policy Report Quarter II

14:00 Canada Bank of Canada Rate 1.00% 1.00%

14:00 Canada BOC Rate Statement April

14:30 U.S. Crude Oil Inventories April +0.3

15:15 Canada BOC Press Conference April

16:00 U.S. FOMC Member Rosengren Speaks

18:00 U.S. Fed's Beige Book April

20:00 U.S. Treasury Sec Lew Speaks

22:00 New Zealand ANZ Job Advertisements (MoM) March +1.0%

23:50 Japan Adjusted Merchandise Trade Balance, bln March -1086.6 -934.5