Oil prices fell, dropping at the same time below $ 104 a barrel as significant concerns about global demand and rising U.S. crude stocks to new highs, it was offset by the published data on imports of China and an unexpected jump in German industrial production.

We add that the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported unexpectedly weak growth in crude oil and refined over the past week. As it became known oil reserves rose by 0.2 million barrels for the week ending May 3. According to analysts, the reserves were to increase by about 1.9 million barrels. As for gasoline stocks, they fell by 0.9 million barrels. We also add that distillate stocks rose 1.8 million barrels. U.S. Energy Department also reported that oil terminal in Cushing last week fell by 0.652 million barrels to 49.149 million barrels. Also recall that the American Petroleum Institute said yesterday that inventories increased by 0.68 million barrels.

Also today, it was reported that daily crude oil imports in China rose in April by 3.7%, compared with a year earlier, and increased by 3.5% in March, as the second largest oil consumer in the world took advantage of lower prices to replenish stocks.

Also today, another report, which was published by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany has shown that up to March, industrial production grew by 1.2% on the month and fell by 2.5% in the year. These were better than the average forecast, which envisaged decline by 0.1% m / m and 3.9% y / y The report documents the growth of manufacturing output up 1.4% m / m in March after rising 0.9% the previous month. Issue of capital goods increased by 0.6% in March after rising 0.1% in February. Production of durable consumer goods increased by 2.2% in March after rising 1.4% in February. Production of non-durable goods increased during the same period by 0.7% after falling 3.0% in the previous reporting month. Release of energy rose by 4.0% in March after rising 0.8% in February. Due to the long period of cold weather construction output fell by 3.1% after falling 1.6% the month before.

The growth of production orders, as witnessed yesterday released a report, and the recovery of the construction should be in the coming months to continue to have a positive effect on the volume of industrial production.

Many experts point out that the Chinese and German data will contribute to the growth of world stocks and other commodities, despite doubts about the veracity of the data from China.

The cost of the June futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) rose to 96.02 dollars per barrel.

June futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture fell $ 0.10 to $ 104.01 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.

Gold prices rose, as many traders were confident that a strong Chinese economic data will increase demand in the second world consumer of the metal. Also today it was announced that the demand for gold coins and bars from India and China, which are the largest consumers continues to grow larger than normal.

We also note that the data that were presented today General Administration of Customs show that in the past month, the growth of China's exports exceeded economists' expectations, thus weakening the concerns about slowing economy. However, the data fueled skepticism about their accuracy after the detection of unusual trends in the trade data for the last few months. Today's data showed that the annualized amount of the April exports increased by 14.7 percent, compared with a forecast at 9.2 percent growth. Meanwhile, imports grew by 16.8 percent, exceeding the expectations of a 13 percent increase. Given these data, the trade surplus in April totaled $ 18,160 billion, higher than the expected surplus of $ 16.15 billion also add that in comparison with March, exports rose by 2.7 percent, while imports fell by 7 , 7 percent. Recall that in March, the figures for trade were relatively weaker, and the trade balance even went to the deficit.

At the same time, UBS analysts believe that, while demand for gold remains high, it has slowed down compared to the rates that occurred in late April, which was associated with an increase in prices. Analysts and traders said the rise in global equity markets, particularly in the United States and Japan also limits the investor demand for gold as a safe haven.

We also learned that the gold reserves in the SPDR Gold Trust fell yesterday by 0.4% to 1,057.79 tons, the lowest level since March 2009.

The cost of the June gold futures on COMEX today rose to 1465.00 dollars an ounce.

Change % Change Last

GOLD 1,451.10 -16.90 -1.15%

OIL (WTI) 95.46 -0.70 -0.73%