Commodities Falls As Dollar Gains (USO, UNG, SLV, GLD, HGT, ENOC)

Commodities were trending flat to lower on Tuesday despite a strong opening from the equity markets as sales of existing homes rose 3.4% in April and distressed activity tapered off as the slow housing market recovery took further root.This morning, The National Association of Realtors reported that sales jumped to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.62 million, from a downwardly revised 4.47 million in March. The NAR initially reported March sales at 4.48 million. Economists were estimating a 4.6 million annual rate. All four regions saw improvement, and compared to April 2011, sales rose 10%, the tenth straight month of year-on-year gains.
Commodities are showing pressure as the dollar index gained after Fitch Ratings cut Japan’s sovereign rating to A+ from AA.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, jumped to 81.27, compared with 80.970 late Monday.The Fitch ratings cut, announced after the close of Asian markets, comes a day ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy decision, though many analysts say the central bank won’t ease further this week.
Gold for June delivery came off session lows and was up marginally at $1,589 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.July silver added +1.23% to $28.68 an ounce. Copper for the same month’s delivery fell marginally to $3.50 per pound.July platinum was flat at $1,458 an ounce, while June palladium surged +0.86% to $615.20 an ounce.Crude for June delivery fell -0.55% to $92.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped over 1% on Monday.Gasoline futures for June was flat at $2.94 a gallon. June heating oil rose +0.31% to $2.87.

United States Oil Fund LP (ETF)(NYSEARCA:USO) was down 0.30 (-0.85%)at $34.85, SPDR Gold Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:GLD) fell 0.44 (-0.28%) to $154.21, iShares Silver Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:SLV) jumped 0.21 (0.76%) to $27.89 and United States Natural Gas Fund, LP(NYSEARCA:UNG) added 0.63 (3.36%) to $19.40.
Hugoton Royalty Trust(NYSE:HGT) slumped 24% to $8.87 after the company disclosed late Friday it will bear ~80% of a $29.6M XTO Energy (XOM) settlement, which is expected will cause costs to exceed revenues for HGT in its Oklahoma and Kansas properties and affect the Trust's distributions going forward.
EnerNOC, Inc.(NASDAQ:ENOC) added 9% after Oppenheimer says while maintaining its Outperform rating and $28 price target. CHK is accelerating its liquids production growth and asset monetization, and the firm thinks its net asset value after pending asset sales is above its current share price.