Commodity Capital-Spending Cuts Seen Reaching Crescendo

Reductions to commodity-related capital expenditures worldwide “have reached a crescendo,” according to Gareth Williams, an economist at Standard & Poor’s. As a result, spending by a group of 2,000 non-financial companies is poised to decline 4 percent this year, according to an estimate cited today in a report. S&P predicted a fourth straight annual drop in outlays while calling for spending in industries other than energy and materials to rise 2 percent, as shown in the chart.