(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Light Crude 94.30 -0.29%

Gold 1,215.60 -0.26%

West Texas Intermediate crude headed for its biggest loss in a week as U.S. economic data bolstered the outlook for higher interest rates. Brent declined in London amid concern Chinese demand is slowing.

Futures dropped as much as 0.9 percent in New York and 0.8 percent in London. Both grades were heading for their biggest quarterly loss in more than two years. The dollar traded near its highest closing level against the euro in more than two years, curbing the appeal of commodities, amid speculation the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates. Gauges of Chinese manufacturing are due tomorrow and on Oct. 1, and U.S. payrolls data will be released on Oct. 3.

"It will be a very heavy week in macro data," Olivier Jakob, managing director at consultants Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland. "China is not a strong story. For financial investors, the Fed moving out of quantitative easing does not call for investment in commodities," he said by e-mail.

WTI for November delivery slid as much as 80 cents to $92.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $93.22 at 12:59 p.m. London time. The contract climbed $1.01 to $93.54 on Sept. 26, the highest close since Sept. 17. The volume of all futures traded was about 15 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day. Prices have lost 12 percent in the past three months, the biggest quarterly drop since June 2012.

Brent for November settlement decreased as much as 73 cents to $96.27 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $3.52 to WTI on ICE, near the narrowest in more than a year. Brent has lost 14 percent this quarter.

Gold prices fluctuate amid rising dollar and demonstrations in Hong Kong.

The dollar against a basket of six major currencies hit four-year high and is close to a six-year peak against the yen due to the acceleration of economic growth in the United States in the second quarter.

Consumer spending in the United States rose slightly in the last month, which may be a sign of a more substantial economic growth in the 3rd quarter. Ministry of Commerce announced that in August of personal expenses of Americans increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.5%. Figure for the previous month was revised upwards - to 0.0% from -0.1%. Amount of personal income, meanwhile, rose 0.3% after increasing 0.2% in July. Changing these two indicators is fully in line with the expectations of experts. In August, spend more on goods rose by 0.4% compared to July, including due to the 1.8 percent jump in spending on durable goods. Spending on services rose by 0.5% compared with July.

Asian stock markets ended the trading session on Monday in different directions, but the Hong Kong Stock Exchange index fell nearly 2 percent due to collisions between demonstrators and police. Dealers are concerned that the turmoil will scare off tourists on the eve of the holiday week in China, which will begin on Wednesday, which will affect the sale of gold jewelry. China - the world's largest consumer of gold.

"It will certainly affect the retail sales of gold. Usually in Hong Kong for the holidays comes a lot of Chinese tourists who buy jewelry, but this time they can deter protests," - said General Manager dealership office Heraeus Metals in Hong Kong Dick Poon.

The world's largest reserves of the gold-exchange-traded fund SPDR Gold Trust on Friday fell by 1.2 tonnes to 772.25 tonnes - the lowest level since December 2008.

The cost of the October gold futures on the COMEX today rose to 1222.20 dollars per ounce.