Oil touches the 78 USD pushed by falling U.S. crude stocks

Oil prices neared the $ 78 threshold on Wednesday, boosted by the announcement of a major lower-than-expected crude stocks in the U.S..
Around 1600 GMT, a barrel of North Sea Brent for August delivery traded at $ 77.44, up 79 cents on Tuesday's close.

At the same time, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI, designation of "light sweet crude traded in the U.S.) for July delivery rose 75 cents and stood at $ 77.90 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex).
After a break in the morning, oil prices continued on Wednesday with their progression in line with the increase of more than two dollars on Thursday.

Black gold prices were boosted by news that U.S. crude stocks fell for third consecutive week as announced by the Department of Energy (DoE).
Crude stocks fell 5.1 million barrels (mb) to 353.1 mb in the week ended July 9. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires forecast a decline of only 1.2 mb.

By contrast, gasoline stocks rose 1.6 kb to 221.0 kb, where analysts expected to hold steady, held back a stronger rise of crude oil.
For analysts at Barclays Capital, the surplus stock that remains in the U.S. and Europe should decline rapidly, thanks to a progressive rapprochement between supply and demand.

Therefore, "the prices should go up," estimated, adding that the WTI in New York could reach $ 84 the smear in the third quarter and $ 87 in late 2010.

U.S. shares rose slightly after Intel results

Investors also awaited a statement from the Federal Reserve later on Wednesday about the outlook for the U.S. economy.The negative figure of the day was that U.S. retail sales fell for the second month in June dragged down by weakness in auto dealerships and gas stations, a reminder that the economy continues to face problems.

Other data showed that U.S. business inventories rose 0.1 percent in May, slightly less than the 0.3 percent increase had been expected.
Shares of Intel, a Dow component, climbed 3.57 percent, a day after reporting better than expected results.

Its figures allayed fears of a slowdown in business spending on technology.
'The gains have been much better than expected, but weak sales suggest that people expect a slowdown in the second half, said Bruce Bittles, chief strategist at Robert W Baird Nashville.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose or 0.32 percent, at 10396.24. The rate of Standard & Poor's rose 0.31 percent to 1098.72 and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 0.79 percent, to 2259.85.
The Fed's economic forecast will be released along with minutes from its latest monetary policy meeting.

Some officials estimate that the Fed will cut forecasts for U.S. economic growth, in line with recent reductions in Wall Street economists.
"It is problematic if the Fed is concerned about the slowdown in the second half of the year, but profits have been removed from the scene a second recession, which was on everyone's lips, creating a deep pessimism," said Bittles.

Spain: VAT tax rises to reduce the deficit

The increased value added tax (VAT) took effect on Thursday in Spain, as part of government efforts to limit the public deficit, while the Spanish economy for weeks is under scrutiny of the institutions and markets financial, to doubt its soundness.

VAT increased by two points, from 16% to 18%, prices of many products such as appliances, leisure products and alcoholic beverages.

From 7% to 8% in food, soft drinks, hotels and catering.

Products called "first necessity" (rice, eggs, bread, fruits and vegetables) are not affected by the increase.

This increase in the VAT comes into force to coincide with the first day of summer settlements, through which traders expect to delay the first negative effects on sales.

The VAT hike was announced in September by the Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and approved by parliament in December.

The measure, along with others taken by the government, will help solve the "grave and tremendous" deficit problem that has now Spain and credibility with the markets, said Thursday on the radio RNE Secretary of State for Finance, Charles Ocaña.

The government approved in May a harsh austerity plan 15,000 million for 2010-2011 and with it hopes to reduce the public deficit, which reached 11.2% of GDP in 2009 to 3% in 2013.

The VAT increase will have a "limited" in the pockets of the Spanish, according to Ocaña.

According to Spanish media, representing an average annual increase of 300 to 350 euros in the family expenditure.

Car construction companies fear a negative impact and anticipated an average reduction of 30% of sales in the second half, due to a combined effect between this increase and the end of subsidies from the government, which helped to increase sales in the first half .

Wall St falls apart in the worst quarter since the collapse of Lehman

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday at the end of a disappointing second quarter, in another low volume session as investors found little reason to be at risk to conflicting economic data.

Wednesday's session ended like many others during the quarter, with a last-minute sell-off due to buying interest waned and investors sold the worst performers in the worst quarter since the crisis hit market the collapse of Lehman Brothers."He removed all the garbage on the side of the boat," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets.

"If I had a little extra boost, they would be able to sell these things a little more expensive and would not have this kind of pressure at the end of the day," he said.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 96.28 points, or 0.98 percent to 9774.02 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 10.53 points, or 1.01 percent to 1030.71 points.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 25.94 points, or 1.21 percent to 2109.24 points.

In the second quarter, the Dow Jones lost 10 percent, while the S & P 500 and Nasdaq is down about 12 percent due to concerns about sovereign debt in Europe and the sustainability of economic recovery in United States .

The S & P fell below the 1,040 points it had held since February, which come in a technical correction to the low suggesting that there could be a further decline in the next five months.

Technology shares were among the hardest hit, in a session in which the roles of Google Inc shed 2.1 percent to $ 444.95, and Apple Inc lost 1.8 percent, to 251 , $ 53.

Data published on Wednesday showed business activity in the Midwest grew slightly more than expected in June, but a report showed weakness in private sector employment, a critical part of economic recovery.

The index of oil services sector of Philadelphia was among the few that stood out, with an increase of 0.02 percent, helped by an increase of 1.8 percent in the shares of Baker Hughes Inc, to $ 41.57.

The index has fallen 20.3 percent in the quarter, and 22.4 percent from BP Plc's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dollar extends losses, plays at least seven months against the yen

The dollar fell on Thursday to a seven-month low against the yen, amid a general decline because investors tried to curb their losses because they suspect about the dollar's lowest level of the year. The dollar fell to a floor of 87.79 yen, its lowest level since December 2009, according to Reuters data.

The loss of the greenback against the yen led to the dollar index, which measures its performance against a basket of six currencies of reference, sank to its session low of 85.516 at the same time, the yen climbed across the board by its status as a refuge currency, taking the Australian dollar to lose nearly 1 percent on the day at 73.35 yen