London Stocks End Firmly Lower; Greece Weighs

FTSE 100 closes 1.2% lower at 5338.38. Banks are among the worst performers, with Barclays off 3.8% and Royal Bank of Scotland down 3.7%. ICAP bucks the trend, gaining 1.6% after a broker upgrade. Confidence in the markets is unlikely to improve while Greece’s fate hangs on repeat elections (June 17),  trader  says. Continue Reading…

July soybeans were trading 11 1/4 cents higher late in the overnight session. China futures closed down 0.3% overnight and down for the 5th session in a row. Palm oil futures in Malaysia closed up 0.3% recovering from the 3.9% break the previous session. Continue Reading…

Surprisingly July silver has spent the majority of the overnight action trading above the prior session’s closing level. Silver appears to have seen some technical short covering action in the wake of the better than expected US data yesterday morning and therefore the bull camp probably needs to see additional positive readings from the US economic report slate today jut to throw off more of the rather surprising May slide in silver prices of $4.60 cents an ounce. Continue Reading…

July cocoa continues to find pressure from negative outside market factors this morning, although prices are holding well above their weekly lows. The ongoing political and economic problems in Greece are helping to fuel a “risk off” attitude throughout physical commodity markets, which may be keeping July cocoa from reaching a new weekly high early in today’s session. Continue Reading…

June Natural prices climbed to a new high for the move during the initial morning hours but could see some back and fill action ahead of this morning’s EIA storage data. The market has experienced a level of support on expectations that this week’s storage injection would run short of year ago levels. Continue Reading…

July wheat was trading 1 3/4 cents higher late in the overnight session. Outside market forces look mixed to slightly positive today. Traders are not comfortable with the hot and dry forecast for southern Russia and Ukraine and there are also concerns for deteriorating crop conditions in western Kansas and less than ideal conditions for parts of eastern Europe. Continue Reading…

Overnight gains in June crude oil evaporated heading into the US open, pressured by uncertainty surrounding Greece and as fears over a European debt contagion drive market direction. Continue Reading…

July cotton pushed sharply lower yesterday and to a 20-month low as bearish supply/demand factors continue to pressure. While planted acreage in the US may not be as high as expected and Texas weather looks a bit challenging, the market sees the world supply/demand news with both beginning and ending stocks at record highs as a constant reminder that prices may need to push down low enough to encourage new demand and discourage future production. Continue Reading…

It is somewhat surprising to see June bonds holding within close proximity to yesterday’s highs in the early Thursday US trade as the trade appears to have skirted the latest Euro zone debt auctions results. Continue Reading…

June gold prices have managed to claw back above the prior session’s high in the overnight action and that is probably the result of a minor stimulus move in China and perhaps some of the gains this morning are the result of relief that the Spanish auctions went off with only marginally higher yields. Continue Reading…