Commodities Trading Lower On Strong Dollar (USO, UNG, SLV, GLD, GOLD, SU)

Commodities were trading slightly lower on Monday as equities slid in the opening session on strong dollar. Equities slid after a gauge of manufacturing for the Chicago area dropped in April to 56.2% from 63.3% in March, reaching a 29-month low, missing economists’ estimate of 60.8%.

In the energy space, crude-oil for June delivery was trading lower by 49 cents or 0.47% to $104.44 after rising for the fourth consecutive session on Friday.As per a survey from Reuters, OPEC output in April has hit its highest since 2008 as extra crude from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Libya more than compensates for the lowest Iranian supply in two decades ahead of an EU embargo.May gasoline was down 0.37% to $3.19 a gallon, while May heating oil was flat at $3.18 a gallon. Natural gas for June delivery was down 0.14% at $2.18 per million British thermal units.
The ICE dollar index, a measure of the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major global currencies, rose to 78.80, up from 78.733 late Friday.

In the metal space, Copped price retreated from its one month high on supply concerns. Copper stockpiles in London Metal Exchange warehouses stood at 248,350 tonnes on Monday, the lowest level since November 2008, with cancelled warrants, or those tagged for delivery, at nearly 40 percent of total inventories.Gold for June delivery fell $8.20, or 0.5%, to $1,656.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.Also Monday, silver for July delivery fell 67 cents, or 2.10%, to $30.74 an ounce. For the month of April, silver is trading 5.4% weaker.July copper was flat at $3.83 a pound, bringing month-to-date losses to 0.2%.Platinum and palladium also declined, with July platinum lost $7.90, or 0.5%, to $1,567.80 an ounce. Palladium for June delivery was down $5.30, or 0.6%, to $676.20 an ounce.

United States Oil Fund LP (ETF)(NYSEARCA:USO) was down 0.40% at $39.46, SPDR Gold Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:GLD) fell 0.20 (-0.12%) to $161.18, iShares Silver Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:SLV) slid 0.45 (-1.48%) to $29.92 and United States Natural Gas Fund, LP(NYSEARCA:UNG) lost 0.02 (-0.13%) to $15.68.
Randgold Resources Ltd. (ADR)(NASDAQ:GOLD) shares slid 3.28% to $88.40 after analyst at Nomura downgraded the stock to Reduce from Neutral.
Suncor Energy Inc. (USA)(NYSE:SU) is up 0.84% to $32.56 ahead of its earnings late Monday. Analysts are optimistic on the company with projection of $0.85 a share, a penny than a year ago profit of $0.92 a share. Revenue is estimated to rise by 12% to $10.85 billion, from a year ago revenue of $9.69 billion.