Commodities Weekly Prices can’t keep ignoring the data The prices of many commodities rose this week, despite soft economic data, in part owing to confirmation of Chinese policy stimulus at the National People’s Congress. As it happens, we think the scale... 15th March 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly All the signs point to weaker demand After a relatively quiet week, the prices of most commodities took a tumble on Friday afternoon following the release of weak US February employment data. A rise of just 20,000 in non-farm payrolls... 8th March 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly China stimulus likely to drive prices Next week, commodity markets will be closely watching the annual meeting of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, hoping for additional fiscal stimulus. The government’s Work Report and... 1st March 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Prices likely to drop back despite trade talks The prices of many major commodities, including oil, gold and copper, hit multi-month highs this week, but we think that almost all will fall sooner rather than later. The rally this week was fuelled... 22nd February 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil’s rally to eventually lose steam After rising strongly this week, the price of oil is likely to remain supported in the short term by clear signs of lower supply from OPEC (mainly Saudi Arabia) and the loss of Iranian and Venezuelan... 15th February 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Iron ore to be in the spotlight next week The return of Chinese investors could lead to a sharp rise in the price of iron ore next week, given the likelihood of significantly lower Brazilian supply. However, the prices of other industrial... 8th February 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Recent optimism unlikely to last Commodity prices have generally had a positive week, boosted by the US-China trade talks and the dovish tone adopted by the Fed at its FOMC meeting. However, the strong US employment report on Friday... 1st February 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Trade talks could be pivotal to investor sentiment Commodity prices largely shrugged off comments this week by the US Commerce Secretary that the US and China were “miles and miles” away from a trade deal. But the outlook for trade talks may take... 25th January 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodities looking for direction from China Commodity prices have generally risen this week, in large part due to optimism about further economic stimulus in China. We are more cautious as we expect the expansionary impact of stimulus to only... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Trade to remain the focus of markets The prices of most commodities rose this week, buoyed by a surge in the oil price, firmer equity prices and optimism about progress in the US-China trade talks. We think that some sort of face-saving... 11th January 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly A shaky start to the new year Commodity prices have been volatile this week, driven more by macroeconomic and financial market developments than by commodity-specific fundamentals. Mounting concerns about the outlook for global... 4th January 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil sets the tone for 2019 The price of oil plunged again this week but, while we are negative on the outlook for 2019, we think that the latest falls are being driven more by bearish investor sentiment than fundamentals. After... 21st December 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Little festive cheer for commodities The prices of most commodities, including oil, traded in a narrow range this week, at least until Friday when weak economic data out of China prompted a synchronised fall in prices. We suspect that... 14th December 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly OPEC gives a boost to prices in the near term The 1.2m bpd output cut announced by OPEC and its allies today should absorb much of the oil market surplus in the short term. As such, it has sparked a rally in oil prices and in commodities more... 7th December 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly The calm before the storm For the most part, commodity prices moved in a narrow range this week, but this relative stability may come to an abrupt end soon. Presidents Trump and Xi are set to dine together on Saturday at the... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly No respite for commodities After a week when the prices of Brent and WTI fell by around 10%, there could be further big moves in commodity prices next week depending on the outcome of the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi... 23rd November 2018 · 1 min read
