A tepid report on housing starts sent stocks into a tizzy and major indexes slipped from their year highs as solid earnings reports from Apple Inc. to Caterpillar were overlooked by anxious investors.  A rebound in dollar from its 14-month lows also added to the downward pressure and hurt commodities, sending energy and material shares lower. 

Weakness in share sent Treasury prices higher, with the 10-year closing up 13/32, to 102 11/32.  The yield fell to 3.34%, from 3.39% late Monday.  On Tuesday, the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average fell 50.71 points, or 0.50%, to 10,041.48.  The broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index retreated 6.85 points, or 0.62%, at 1,091.06 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 12.85 points, or 0.59%, to 2,163.47.  Market breadth was negative.  On the New York Stock Exchange, declining shares beat those that rose in price two to one on volume of 1.24 billion

Oil prices fell nearly 4 percent to below $70 a barrel on Monday as fear of a curb in Chinese bank lending dented optimism about the pace of economic recovery and a potential rebound in global energy demand.

U.S. crude for October delivery settled down $2.78, or 3.8 percent, at $69.96 a barrel, having fallen as low as $69.13 in intraday trade. In London, Brent crude settled down $3.14 at $69.65 a barrel.

China’s key stock index dived 6.74 percent on Monday to a three-month low, prompted by concern that China’s government is trying to moderate economic growth and choke off some speculation in its stock market by tightening bank lending.

European equities closed lower and U.S. stocks fell after China’s index fall.

“The oil markets have been strongly affected by what’s going on in China, where the fear is that authorities will rein in on lending and in the process curtail growth,” said Phil Flynn,

Oil fell below $66 on Friday, in line with broad falls on global markets after data showing the U.S. economy contracted and consumer spending had declined, with knock-on effects for fuel demand.

U.S. light crude fell 95 cents to $65.99 a barrel by 1325 GMT, pulling back from its gains ahead of the release of the economic data.

London Brent crude dropped by $1.43 to $68.68.

U.S. gross domestic product fell 1.0 percent in the second quarter, with consumer spending falling 1.2 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

Although the contraction was smaller than expected the January-March GDP was revised down to a 6.4 precent drop from the previously reported 5.5 percent fall.

With the contraction in the second quarter, U.S. GDP has fallen for four straight quarters for the first time since government records started in 1947.

“The GDP reading did come better than expected, but the stabilisation is coming off a downward revised first quarter number,”

Oil prices fell more than 1 percent to $63 a barrel today, Tuesday, as growing uncertainty over an economic recovery spurred investor risk aversion.  A member of U.S. President Barack Obama’s economic advisory panel said the world’s top oil consumer should plan to possibly provide a second round of stimulus funds to prop up the economy, implying that recovery is still far off.

U.S. crude futures traded down $1.01 to $63.04 a barrel by 1:13 p.m. EDT (1713 GMT) as investors sought safer havens. London Brent crude fell 74 cents to $63.31 a barrel.

“The worries are that the pace of the economic recovery hasn’t materialized the way that people who plunged into the commodity markets thought, and now they are running for the exits,” said Gene McGillian, an analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “The question is how far they will run.”

Safe-haven currencies such as the dollar gained on the concerns about

In the energy market on Tuesday, crude for June delivery pushed higher, closing at $58.85/barrel, up 35 cents. June reformulated gasoline fell 1.23 cents, to $1.6679/gallon.

Oil pulled back yesterday after advancing early 2.7% to touch a six-month high of $60.08.

Oil has rallied sharply, surging more than 70% from its mid-February low below $34 a barrel. Year to date, it has gained more than 30%, befuddling analysts who keep looking for the rally to turn around, as it “should” since demand still remains weak.

On the bullish side, China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, announced that it increased its imports by 13.6% last month, to 3.9 million barrels a day.

Production from the 11 OPEC members bound by quotas rose 130,000 barrels a day to 25.74 million barrels in April from 25.61 million barrels in March. 12th member Iraq does not participate in output agreements.

And the Energy Information Administration said yesterday in

There are conflicting voices about oil.  Some say too much is available and demand is falling.  Others say demand is rising and reduced exploration will contribute to a new boom.  Some say oil is responding to the equities rally. Charts show oil with upward tendencies weeks before equities began to rise.

Here are some important media snippets with mixed bullish and bearish messages:

(April 9 Wall Street Journal) U.S. petroleum inventories sit at about 360 million barrels, their highest level since 1993, …  McKinsey [report] suggests that energy demand may snap back more quickly than many observers project, driven by strong demand growth from developing countries. …If the world economy returns to moderate growth, energy demand will increase about 2.3% a year between 2010 and 2020, nearly a full point faster than the period from 2006 to 2010 …  Developing regions will account for more than 90% of the growth, led by

In the energy market on Wednesday, crude for April delivery jumped $3.73 to close at $45.38/barrel. April reformulated gasoline finished at $1.3816/gallon.

Part of the gain in crude is being attributed to newly released data that showed a surprising decline in U.S. crude inventories and investors’ anticipation of a new stimulus plan from China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer.

U.S. crude inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 700,000 barrels in the week ended Feb. 27, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts surveyed by Platts had expected an increase of 2.2 million barrels.

Inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for Nymex crude futures, fell for a third straight week from their record high, down 500,000 barrels to 34 million.

The unexpected reduction in crude inventories “is supportive” to oil prices, wrote Hussein Allidina, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, in a note to clients. He also noted that despite the …

In the energy market on Wednesday, crude for April delivery fell $1.77 to close at $43.61/barrel. April reformulated gasoline finished at $1.3127/gallon.

Oil fell as investors anticipate more job losses in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer.

The Labor Department is expected to report today the biggest nonfarm payroll loss in nearly six decades. Also adding to the downward pressure on oil, the U.S. dollar rose against the euro and the British pound after interest rate cuts in Europe.

“A rising dollar as a consequence of interest rate cuts in Europe and anticipation of a poor jobs report tomorrow should keep crude prices under pressure today and tomorrow,” wrote Michael Fitzpatrick, an analyst at MF Global (NYSE:MF).

The number of workers filing for state unemployment benefits fell by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 639,000 last week, while the smoothed average of continuing claims moved higher into record territory, the Labor Department reported

Oil rose above $44 a barrel on Friday, after sinking 4 percent in the previous session, gaining support from a weaker dollar and a meeting of OPEC later this month.

The market was also supported by China’s optimism that its domestic economy was recovering and official promises of more swift stimulus action when required. China is the world’s second-largest oil consumer.

U.S. crude was up 98 cents at $44.57 a barrel by 1205 GMT after rising as high as $44.76, while London Brent crude advanced 56 cents to $44.20 a barrel.

Brent has lost its rare premium to U.S. crude because of a decline in U.S. inventories. High U.S. stocks, particularly at the Cushing oil hub, had been keeping the American marker at a discount to Brent.

Markets will be watching for the February U.S. non-farm payrolls data due later in the

In the energy market on Wednesday, crude for April delivery jumped $3.73 to close at $45.38/barrel. April reformulated gasoline finished at $1.3816/gallon.

Part of the gain in crude is being attributed to newly released data that showed a surprising decline in U.S. crude inventories and investors’ anticipation of a new stimulus plan from China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer.

U.S. crude inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 700,000 barrels in the week ended Feb. 27, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts surveyed by Platts had expected an increase of 2.2 million barrels.

Inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for Nymex crude futures, fell for a third straight week from their record high, down 500,000 barrels to 34 million.

The unexpected reduction in crude inventories “is supportive” to oil prices, wrote Hussein Allidina, an analyst at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), in a note to clients. He also noted that despite