Commodities Turn Lower As Euro Fall Below $1.25 (USO, UNG, SLV, GLD, CHK, XOM, EOG)

The entire commodities reversed early gain in mid day trading session pressured by a credit rating downgrade on Spain renewed concerns over oil demand from the euro zone and buoyed the U.S. dollar.A gauge of U.S. consumer confidence has declined for a third month, with gloomier views in May on present and future conditions, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. The consumer-confidence index fell to 64.9 in May - the lowest level since January -- from a revised 68.7 in April. A prior estimate for April pegged the level at 69.2.

Oil for July delivery fell 17 cents, to $90.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, well below its session high of $92.21.The euro slumped below $1.25, while the ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major rivals, rose to 82.53, up from 82.228 in North American trade on Monday, and above the 82.416 level seen late on Friday. Strength in the greenback tends to pressure demand for dollar-denominated commodities such as oil and gold.

China’s State Council, or cabinet, on Tuesday approved an expansion of a value-added-tax reform to include Beijing, according to report by Dow Jones Newswires, which cited a person with knowledge of the matter.And in Iran, where Western nations have stepped up sanctions, Tehran on Tuesday warned that increasing sanctions amid nuclear discussions could hurt the chances of reaching an agreement, according to a Reuters report Tuesday. Iran concluded talks with world powers last week that are set to resume in June.

June gasoline added 1% to $2.91 a gallon. June heating oil was down -0.18%  to $2.80 a gallon.
Natural gas for June delivery slumped -6.16% to $2.48 per million British thermal units, down 5 cents, or 1.9%.
Gold for August delivery ended lower by 0.35%, to settle at $1,554 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had earlier touched a high of $1,585.70.

United States Oil Fund LP (ETF)(NYSEARCA:USO) was down 0.07 (-0.20%) at $34.14, SPDR Gold Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:GLD) ell 2.06 (-1.35%) to $150.61, iShares Silver Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:SLV) declined 0.66 (-2.39%) to $26.96 and United States Natural Gas Fund, LP(NYSEARCA:UNG) fell 0.73 (-4.01%) to $17.46.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation(NYSE:CHK) was up 1.50% as activist investor Carl Icahn reported a 7.6% stake in the company on Friday and called for the replacement of at least four of the embattled natural gas company’s current board members.
EOG Resources, Inc.(NYSE:EOG) gained 1.65% to $103.43 after analyst at Goldman added the shares to its Conviction Buy List earlier today and removed Exxon Mobil Corporation(NYSE:XOM) following the selloff in energy shares. The firm now expects higher-beta names to outperform. Shares of XOM are down 0.56%.