Commodity prices generally enjoyed a month in the black in February, with three of the four sub-indices posting gains. A weaker US dollar was a supporting factor, although it couldn’t prevent the agricultural index moving towards its lowest level since early 2009. Gold benefitted from renewed safe-haven demand and by a recalibration of investors’ expectations for the path of US interest rates early in the month. Meanwhile, an agreement between some OPEC members and Russia to freeze crude oil output at January’s levels lifted oil prices. Moreover, the recent strength of industrial commodity prices suggests that fears about the state of the global economy are overdone.
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