Oil Down 2%, Gold Up 1.20% On Safe Haven (USO, UNG, GLD, SLV, KEX, PBR)

Commodities continued to trade lower on Monday with Crude oil plunged about 2% to $78 as investors are concerned about the upcoming European Union summit later in the week.
Crude oil for August delivery slid $1.35, or 1.85%, to $78.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, losing more ground as the session wore on. July natural gas added +2.82% to $2.70 per million British thermal units, and gasoline for the same month’s delivery rose +1.11% to $2.60 per gallon. July heating oil fell -0.66% to $2.52 a gallon.
Oil traders were also monitoring the path of Tropical Storm Debby as it hovered in the Gulf of Mexico, which initially helped oil prices break $80 a barrel earlier Monday.  Price of crude oil have slumped over 5% last week k as fears of a slowing global economy and a surprise increase in U.S. supplies weighed on expectations of demand for crude.
The summit is one of the key market events due this week, with investors looking for signs of action to address the region’s financial crisis. A stronger dollar is a negative for oil and other commodities, as it makes them more expensive to holders of other currencies. The ICE dollar index recently rose to 82.53 from 82.267 in late North American trading on Friday.
On the other hand, prices of Gold jumped about 1% on safe haven buying with Gold for August delivery gained $19.80, or 1.26%, at $1,586.70 an ounce. July silver added +2.90% to $26.44 an ounce. July copper fell -0.15% to $3.30 per pound, while July platinum rose +0.56% to $1,440 an ounce.
In a weekend note, Societe Generale noted fading hopes for a breakthrough at this week’s the gathering of European Union leaders, which gets underway Thursday.
Meanwhile, Nomura trimmed its gold-price target this year. But it kept its view of an overall positive environment, lifting its targets in 2014 and 2015 in what it said was a continuing uptrend in precious-metals prices.
United States Oil Fund LP (ETF)(NYSEARCA:USO) was down 0.73 (-2.43%) at $29.37, SPDR Gold Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:GLD) rose 1.17 (0.77%) to $153.82, iShares Silver Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:SLV) surged 0.49 (1.87%) to $26.64 and United States Natural Gas Fund, LP(NYSEARCA:UNG) climbed 0.46 (2.52%) to $18.68.
Kirby Corporation(NYSE:KEX) slumped 11.84% after BofA Merrill downgrades Kirby’s shares to Neutral from Buy and lowers its price target to $56 from $69 after the tank barge operator lowered earnings estimates for Q2 and FY 2012, noting softness in its land-based diesel engine services business. Jefferies cuts its price target and estimates.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA (ADR)(NYSE:PBR) lost 7.96% to $18.04 as five-year investment plan is well-financed, and the company won't need to sell new shares to raise capital, according to the CFO of the Brazilian oil major. PBR has planned to finance $208.7B in projects that have been approved, and has a further $27.8B in projects under evaluation that have yet to be financed, Almir Barbassa says.