European stocks fell to a four-week low, paring a 12th consecutive month of gains for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, as better-than-forecast data on U.S. business activity and consumer confidence bolstered speculation the Federal Reserve will pare its bond purchases.

National benchmark indexes fell in all of the 18 western European markets, except Greece. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 1.1 percent and France's CAC 40 retreated 1.2 percent, while Germany's DAX lost 0.6 percent.

Roche slipped 1.4 percent to 239.10 Swiss francs after a study in south-east Asia showed the effectiveness of its Tamiflu drug remained unchanged when the dosage was doubled for patients with severe influenza.

Salzgitter AG slid 5.2 percent to 29.36 euros after Nomura Holdings Inc. cut its rating on the shares to reduce from neutral, saying it expects increased costs at the German company's steel division.

PostNL rallied 6.9 percent to 2.11 euros, the highest price since Jan. 11. The company said it expects so-called underlying operating income of 50 million euros ($65 million) to 90 million euros in 2013, compared with a previous forecast of 20 million euros to 60 million euros.

West Texas Intermediate crude dropped, heading for a second monthly decline, as OPEC kept its output target unchanged for a third consecutive time and U.S. inventories climbed to the highest level in 82 years.

Futures fell as much as 1.5 percent after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries maintained its target of 30 million barrels a day at a meeting in Vienna today. Ministers from the 12-member group will next gather on Dec. 4. U.S. crude supplies increased 3 million barrels to 397.6 million last week, the most since 1931, a government report showed yesterday.

OPEC has no formal target for prices, the group’s Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said at a news conference in Vienna after the ministers’ meeting.

Most member states also expressed their support for $100 oil. Some, including Venezuela, voiced concern over excessive production by other members, with OPEC pumping about 1 million barrels a day more than the informal target.

U.S. crude production rose 34,000 barrels a day to 7.29 million last week, the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, reported yesterday. Output reached 7.37 million barrels a day in the week ended May 3, the most since February 1992. Production has surged as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have unlocked supplies trapped in shale formations in the central U.S.

Prices also dropped as the dollar rallied on better-than-forecast reports on U.S. business activity and consumer confidence. The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against six others, rose as much as 0.7 percent to 83.597. The U.S. currency climbed as much as 0.8 percent against the euro, reducing the appeal of raw materials as an investment.

WTI crude for July delivery declined $1.06, or 1.1 percent, to $92.55 a barrel at 11:10 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume of all futures traded was 38 percent below the 100-day average for this time of day. Prices are down 1.7 percent this week and 1 percent this month.

Brent oil for July settlement dropped $1.22, or 1.2 percent, to $100.97 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume for all contracts was 16 percent lower than the 100-day average.

Gold prices down on stronger dollar and weak euro.

Data released today showed that unemployment in the euro zone rose in April to a new record high, while consumer price inflation remained muted in May - a combination that adds pressure on the European Central Bank, forcing the focus on policy and stimulate economic growth, easing measures austerity.

The unemployment rate in the euro area rose to 12.2% in April, the highest figure since records began in 1995 statistics. Recall that in March, the unemployment rate was at around 12.1%. The figures in line with expectations, confirming that consumers and businesses continue to struggle against the long period of austerity. European statistical agency Eurostat has also published a preliminary assessment of consumer price inflation in May at 1.4% compared with the same month in 2012. This compares with an increase of 1.2% in April, which was the lowest inflation rate in three years.

From the beginning, gold fell by nearly 16 percent, and prices will drop in May, the second month in a row.

Stocks of the world's largest exchange-traded fund backed by gold (ETF) SPDR Gold Trust rose for the first time on Wednesday, May 9 to 1.013,15 tons, but still close to a minimum of four years, as investors prefer higher yielding stocks.

The cost of the June gold futures on COMEX today dropped to 1389.00 dollars an ounce.

EUR/USD $1.2925, $1.2950, $1.3000, $1.3050

USD/JPY Y99.50, Y100.00, Y100.50, Y100.80, Y101.00, Y101.50, Y102.00

EUR/JPY Y133.00

GBP/USD $1.5100

USD/CHF Chf0.9500, Chf0.9600

EUR/CHF Chf1.2450, Chf1.2500, Chf1.2550

AUD/USD $0.9500, $0.9550, $0.9575, $0.9600, $0.9650

NZD/USD $0.8000

U.S. stock-index futures declined as consumer spending unexpectedly fell and before reports on consumer confidence and business activity.

Global Stocks:

Nikkei 13,774.54 +185.51 +1.37%

Hang Seng 22,392.16 -92.15 -0.41%

Shanghai Composite 2,300.59 -17.15 -0.74%

FTSE 6,593.86 -63.13 -0.95%

CAC 3,966.31 -30.00 -0.75%

DAX 8,343.95 -56.25 -0.67%

Crude oil $92.69 -0.98%

Gold $1406.60 -0.35%

Data

01:00 New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence May 32.3 41.8

01:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, m/m April +0.2% +0.3% +0.3%

01:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, y/y April +3.4% +3.0% +3.1%

06:00 Germany Retail sales, real adjusted April -0.1% +0.3% -0.4%

06:00 Germany Retail sales, real unadjusted, y/y April -2.5% +1.1% +1.8%

06:45 France Consumer spending April +1.3% -0.5% -0.3%

06:45 France Consumer spending, y/y April +1.2% 0.0% +0.2%

07:00 Switzerland KOF Leading Indicator May 1.04 1.08 1.10

08:30 United Kingdom M4 money supply, m/m April -0.9% +0.1% +0.3%

08:30 United Kingdom M4 money supply, y/y April +0.3% -0.1%

08:30 United Kingdom Net Lending to Individuals, bln April 0.9 0.9 1.4

08:30 United Kingdom Mortgage Approvals April 53.5 54.6 53.7

09:00 Eurozone Harmonized CPI, Y/Y (Preliminary) May +1.2% +1.4% +1.4%

09:00 Eurozone Unemployment Rate April 12.1% 12.2% 12.2%

The yen rose against all major currencies, despite a report that pointed to a decline in inflation. As shown by the data that was presented today by the Bureau of Statistics of Japan, the level of consumer prices in Japan continued to fall in April, registering at this sixth monthly decline in a row, which is a problem for Japan after the introduction of unprecedented measures to overcome deflation, which is celebrated for 15 years. According to a report on the results of April, the consumer price index excluding fresh food prices, fell by 0.4 percent year on year, which followed a fall of 0.5 percent in the previous month. It should be noted that this reduction is fully in line with the average forecast of most experts.

Recall that the Bank of Japan has sent its own measures to achieve the target inflation rate of 2 percent for two years. In addition, we add that the Bank of Japan's forecast that the consumer price index will register a smaller drop in the moment. Also note that in April, the central bank announced the massive monetary easing to get out of deflation and support the economic recovery.

In the Bureau of Statistics also reported that all the elements of the consumer price index fell from a year earlier. The food prices were down 1.8 percent, while housing costs fell 0.4 percent. Prices of transport and communication were 0.1 percent lower than a year earlier.

However, the core consumer price index in Tokyo, which is an indicator of price trends nationwide by one month in advance, rose this month by 0.1 percent year on year.

The euro exchange rate fell sharply against the dollar, which has been associated with the publication of data on unemployment.

As shown by recent data that have been published by Statistics Eurostat, last month the eurozone labor market has not shown any signs of recovery, registering growth in the unemployment rate to a new record high.

According to the report, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in April rose to 12.2%, compared to 12.1% in March. However, despite the increase, this result is fully consistent with the median forecast of economists.

According to Eurostat, in the past month, the number of unemployed totaled 19,375 million, which is 95 000 more than in March. Compared to last year the number of unemployed increased by 1644000.

In addition, it was reported that the unemployment rate among young people (under 25 years) rose again in April, reaching 3,624,000 people. The number of unemployed young people were also 188,000 more than in April 2013. Given these data, the unemployment rate among young people was 24.4%, compared with 22.6 percent in April 2012.

We also add that the overall unemployment rate in the EU-27 was in April at 11%. Among EU Member States, the highest unemployment rate was seen in Greece and Spain. The lowest rates were observed in Austria, Germany and Luxembourg.

EUR / USD: during the European session, the pair fell to $ 1.2967

GBP / USD: during the European session, the pair dropped to $ 1.5183, but later rose to $ 1.5220

USD / JPY: during the European session, the pair fell to Y100.29

At 12:30 GMT Canada will announce the change in GDP for the quarter year on year in Q1 and the change in the volume of GDP in March. At 12:30 GMT the U.S. will release the main index for personal consumption expenditures and the deflator of personal consumption expenditures for April, and will announce the change in the level of spending for April. At 13:45 GMT the U.S. Chicago PMI index will be released in May.

EUR/USD

Offers $1.3110/20, $1.3100, $1.3070/80, $1.3060

Bids $1.2980/70, $1.2950/40, $1.2910/895, $1.2855/50

GBP/USD

Offers $1.5300/10, $1.5280/85, $1.5260/65, $1.5240/50, $1.5240

Bids $1.5180/70, $1.5145/40, $1.5120/10, $1.5100

AUD/USD

Offers $0.9720, $0.9710, $0.9700, $0.9650/60

Bids $0.9560, $0.9550, $0.9545/40, $0.9500

EUR/JPY

Offers Y132.50, Y132.15/20, Y132.00, Y131.75/80, Y131.35/40

Bids Y130.27/19, Y130.00, Y129.50, Y129.20/15, Y129.00

EUR/GBP

Offers stg0.8650/60, stg0.8620, stg0.8607, stg0.8595/600

Bids stg0.8535, stg0.8535/30, stg0.8470, stg0.8445/40

USD/JPY

Offers Y101.70/80, Y101.50, Y101.20/30, Y100.80/85

Bids Y100.20/10, Y100.00, Y99.80, Y99.50

European stocks fell to a three-week low, paring a 12th straight month of gains, as investors awaited reports on American consumer confidence and business activity. U.S. index futures and Asian shares retreated.

The Stoxx 600 slid 0.9 percent to 300.89 at 10:17 a.m. in London, the lowest level since May 6. The benchmark gauge is heading for a drop of 0.8 percent this week as investors weighed the likelihood of the Federal Reserve taking steps to reduce monetary stimulus.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of U.S. consumer sentiment climbed in May to 83.7, the highest level since July 2007, according to the median projection of economists. That matches this month's preliminary reading and follows 76.4 in April. A separate release may show business activity was little changed. The MNI Chicago Report's business barometer rose to 50 in May, from 49 the previous month, economists forecast . A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.

In China, a report tomorrow may show manufacturing stagnated in May. A purchasing managers' index compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing fell to 50 from 50.6 in April, according to the median forecast of economists.

Roche slipped 1.3 percent to 238.60 Swiss francs after a study in south-east Asia showed the effectiveness of its Tamiflu drug remained unchanged when the dosage was doubled for patients with severe influenza.

A gauge of health-care companies in the Stoxx 600 retreated 1.1 percent to the lowest in almost a month. France's Sanofi declined 1.8 percent to 82.47 euros, while Britain's GlaxoSmithKline Plc dropped 1.3 percent to 1,699.5 pence.

Salzgitter slid 3.4 percent to 29.95 euros after Nomura Holdings Inc. cut its rating on the shares to reduce from neutral, saying it expects increased costs at the German company's steel division.

KPN lost 3.1 percent to 1.51 euros, a one-month low. Kepler Cheuvreux downgraded the Dutch phone operator partly owned by Carlos Slim's America Movil SAB to reduce from hold.

Telecom Italia SpA (TIT) fell 3.1 percent to 61.7 euro cents after UBS AG said the carrier's plan to spin off its network unit may be a lengthy process. Telecom Italia's decision to retain the active component of its copper network may complicate the regulatory review, the brokerage wrote in a note, reiterating a sell rating.

PostNL rallied 7 percent to 2.11 euros, the biggest jump since Feb. 25. The company said it expects so-called underlying operating income of 50 million euros ($65 million) to 90 million euros in 2013, compared with a previous forecast of 20 million euros to 60 million euros.

FTSE 100 6,584.89 -72.10 -1.08%

CAC 40 3,950.05 -46.26 -1.16%

DAX 8,318.18 -82.02 -0.98%

EUR/USD $1.2925, $1.2950, $1.3000, $1.3050

USD/JPY Y99.50, Y100.00, Y100.50, Y100.80, Y101.00, Y101.50, Y102.00

EUR/JPY Y133.00

GBP/USD $1.5100

USD/CHF Chf0.9500, Chf0.9600

EUR/CHF Chf1.2450, Chf1.2500, Chf1.2550

AUD/USD $0.9500, $0.9550, $0.9575, $0.9600, $0.9650

NZD/USD $0.8000

Asian stocks slid, extending the regional benchmark index's first monthly decline since October, as a drop in Japanese brokerages and shipping lines limited a rebound in the nation's shares.

Nikkei 225 13,774.54 +185.51 +1.37%

S&P/ASX 200 4,926.6 -4.08 -0.08%

Shanghai Composite 2,300.59 -17.15 -0.74%

Japanese shipping companies dropped the most among the Topix index's 33 industry groups, with Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd. falling 4.2 percent.

Nomura Holdings Ltd. declined 1.9 percent, leading losses among brokerages.

Huaneng Power International Inc. slid 3.2 percent in Hong Kong, pacing declines among utilities.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company by market value, rose 1.2 percent in Sydney as copper is set for first monthly increase in four months.

01:00 New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence May 32.3 41.8

01:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, m/m April +0.2% +0.3% +0.3%

01:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, y/y April +3.4% +3.0% +3.1%

The yen fell versus all of its major peers as a decline in consumer prices added to the case for the Bank of Japan to step up its stimulus efforts that tends to spur investors to chase higher yields offshore. Japan's consumer prices excluding fresh food fell 0.4 percent in April from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today, compared with a 0.5 percent drop the prior month. The inflation rate hasn't been above zero in the past year.

The Dollar Index was set for its biggest weekly decline in almost four months ahead of U.S. reports today forecast to show consumer spending stagnated and an inflation measure fell. U.S. Commerce Department data is likely to show today that consumer spending in the U.S. was probably unchanged in April from a month earlier, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The personal-consumption-expenditure index deflator, the Fed's favored inflation gauge, probably fell 0.2 percent last month from March, the most since May 2012, a separate poll of economists shows.

New Zealand's dollar advanced after the nation's terms of trade improved more than estimated. The terms of trade index, which measures the price of exports relative to imports, rose 4.1 percent in the first quarter from the previous three-month period, when it fell a revised 1.2 percent, Statistics New Zealand said in a statement in Wellington today. Economists had expected a 1.5 percent increase.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair fell to $ 1.3030

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair fell to $ 1.5210

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair is trading around Y101.00

UK Nationwide house price data due for release at 0600GMT though focus for direction expected to be on end month flows. Euro area confidence data at 0900GMT provides the domestic highlight this morning, followed this afternoon by the US Q1 GDP second read.

Change % Change Last

GOLD 1,412.60 21.30 1.53%

OIL (WTI) 93.64 0.51 0.55%

Change % Change Last

Nikkei 225 14,326.46 +14.48 +0.10%

S&P/ASX 200 4,974.7 +4.05 +0.08%

Shanghai Composite 2,325.2 +3.89 +0.17%

FTSE 100 6,656.99 +29.82 +0.45%

CAC 40 3,996.31 +22.19 +0.56%

DAX 8,400.2 +63.62 +0.76%

DJIA 15,324.50 21.73 0.14%

S&P 500 1,654.41 6.05 0.37%

NASDAQ 3,491.30 23.78 0.69%

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

EUR/USD $1,3043 +0,80%

GBP/USD $1,5233 +0,70%

USD/CHF Chf0,9532 -0,90%

USD/JPY Y100,76 -0,37%

EUR/JPY Y131,46 +0,43%

GBP/JPY Y153,48 +0,34%

AUD/USD $0,9659 +0,27%

NZD/USD $0,8077 -0,30%

USD/CAD C$1,0296 -0,51%

01:00 New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence 32.3

01:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, m/m +0.2% +0.3%

01:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, y/y +3.4% +3.0%

06:00 Germany Retail sales, real adjusted -0.3% +0.3%

06:00 Germany Retail sales, real unadjusted, y/y -2.8% +1.1%

06:45 France Consumer spending +1.3% -0.5%

06:45 France Consumer spending, y/y +1.2% 0.0%

07:00 Switzerland KOF Leading Indicator 1.02 1.08

08:30 United Kingdom M4 money supply, m/m -0.9% +0.1%

08:30 United Kingdom M4 money supply, y/y +0.3%

08:30 United Kingdom Net Lending to Individuals, bln 0.9 0.9

08:30 United Kingdom Mortgage Approvals 53.5 54.6

09:00 Eurozone Harmonized CPI, Y/Y +1.2% +1.4%

09:00 Eurozone Unemployment Rate 12.1% 12.2%

12:30 U.S. Personal Income, m/m +0.2% +0.2%

12:30 U.S. Personal spending +0.2% +0.2%

12:30 U.S. PCE price index ex food, energy, m/m 0.0% +0.1%

12:30 U.S. PCE price index ex food, energy, Y/Y +1.1% +1.0%

12:30 Canada GDP (m/m) +0.3% +0.1%

12:45 U.S. FOMC Member Pianalto Speaks

13:45 U.S. Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index 49.0 50.3

13:55 U.S. Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index 49.0 50.3