Market overview for Thursday 17th November 2011.

Currencies The dollar advanced for a fourth straight session on Thursday in a risk-averse market that saw stocks and commodities sell off on concerns the banking and fiscal problems of the euro zone's peripheral countries could spread to healthier economies in the region. Commodity currencies such as the Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand dollars, including emerging market units, posted sharp losses against the safe-haven U.S. dollar as well, as investors grew frustrated the two-year old debt crisis remained unresolved. European Central Bank buying of Italian and Spanish debt before and after the debt sales helped ease some pressure on yields but looked modest in size. The euro was little changed versus the dollar at $1.34610, having risen as high as $1.35403. It had earlier fallen to a five-week low of $1.34210. That helped the euro bounce back above $1.35 after three straight days of decline. Against the yen, the euro was down at 103.598, rebounding from a five-week low of 103.40 set earlier. The dollar slipped 0.1 percent to 76.979 yen.

Energy Oil prices tumbled on Thursday, with U.S. crude dropping 4 percent as investors booked profits a day after a surge to five-month highs tested key technical levels. In London, ICE Brent crude for January delivery settled at $108.22 a barrel, dropping $3.66, or 3.27 percent, front month Brent's the biggest one-day percentage loss since Oct. 17. U.S. crude for December delivery which expires on Friday, settled at $98.82, down $3.77, or 3.67 percent, the biggest one-day percentage loss for front-month crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange since Sept. 28. U.S. crude jumped on Wednesday following news of a pipeline reversal in the Midwest that will ease a glut of crude around the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for the NYMEX contract.

Precious metals Gold sustained its biggest one-day loss in nearly two months on Thursday, falling over 2 percent as investors fearful of deepening European woes bailed on commodities and technical triggers set off sell orders. Spot gold was down 2.5 percent at $1,718.44 an ounce. It hit a session low of $1,709.64 an ounce, the cheapest price in around three weeks. U.S. December gold futures settled at $1,720.20 an ounce, down $54.10 or 3 percent on the day. Spot silver fell over 6 percent to $31.57 an ounce. Among platinum group metals, platinum fell 2 percent to $1,578.24 an ounce and palladium fell 6.6 percent to $603.50 an ounce.

Stock indices Trigger-happy investors dumped U.S. stocks on Thursday, scared by the market's sudden fall through a key technical level brought on by more worries about Europe's debt troubles. Investors have been increasingly focused on Europe, and markets were cautious early as bond yields in Spain and Italy rose to levels viewed as unsustainable. Spanish bond yields hit their highest level since 1997 at a 10-year auction, while a French bond auction also drew high yields. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 134.71 points, or 1.13 percent, to 11,770.88. The S&P 500 lost 20.73 points, or 1.68 percent, to 1,216.18. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 51.62 points, or 1.96 percent, to 2,587.99. Investors have worried that the debt problems in the euro zone could tip the global economy into another recession, even as U.S. data has suggested the economy is picking up.