Commodities Weekly Metals return to the party It has been a good week for industrial metals, with prices rising on the back of data showing relatively stable industrial activity and solid growth in investment spending in China. The Fed’s rate... 15th December 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Gold vulnerable to further Fed tightening Commodity prices mostly fell this week. A stronger US dollar – following the US Senate’s approval of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts” last Saturday – was the main reason behind the declines in prices... 8th December 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly OPEC delivers on expectations Commodity prices fell this week, partly owing to weaker activity data from China, which weighed on industrial metals prices. In addition, a stronger dollar put some downward pressure on precious... 1st December 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Industrials on the march Commodity prices drifted a bit towards the end of the week as the US markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Otherwise, the prices of most of the industrial and energy commodities rose... 24th November 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Risky assets fall out of favour The falls in the prices of industrial commodities this week were in line with the broader downturn in riskier assets, including equities. However, factors specific to commodity markets, notably China... 17th November 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Political risks boost oil prices The price of oil jumped this week on rising tensions in the Middle East, which also lent some support to the gold price. In contrast, the prices of industrial metals fell, after strong gains a week... 10th November 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Markets focus on the positives In a news-filled week, the prices of most industrial commodities and oil performed strongly. President Trump nominated Jerome Powell to be the next Fed Chair, but there are some concerns about whether... 3rd November 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil tops $60 The price of crude oil jumped this week and briefly breached $60 per barrel in afternoon trading on Friday on the back of optimism that OPEC will extend its output cuts to the end of 2018. In contrast... 27th October 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly A last-minute comeback for commodities Commodity prices initially wavered this week as the dollar strengthened. However, sentiment turned on Friday so that oil and most of the industrial metals ended up on the week. Concerns about oil... 20th October 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly All eyes on China The more industrial commodities have had a good week, which was vindicated to some extent on Friday by data showing a surge in China’s commodity imports in September. Meanwhile, the minutes from the... 13th October 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly A busy week ahead … It was a relatively quiet week on the news front, at least until the US labour data on Friday. The 33,000 drop in non-farm payrolls came as a surprise, even though markets had expected hurricane... 6th October 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Ample supply weighs on agriculturals There were some sharp moves in metals prices this week, as investors took positions ahead of the weeklong holiday in China. Meanwhile, oil prices edged higher on speculation that OPEC will extend its... 29th September 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Has the Fed spoiled the party? Much of the focus this week was on the outcome of the Fed’s FOMC meeting. In the event, it seems that a clear majority of Fed officials continue to expect another rate hike in 2017. This was a factor... 22nd September 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Profit-taking evident in metals There were some big gains this week in some of the agricultural commodities, primarily as a result of supply concerns. In contrast, weak Chinese August activity and spending data weighed on the prices... 15th September 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Is this the end of the price rally in metals? The impact of hurricanes in the US provided direction for many commodities this week. The price of crude oil started to recover as refineries in Texas restarted, but some agriculturals made gains on... 8th September 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly China data support metals rally The prices of most commodities rose this week. Another set of strong manufacturing PMIs in China supported industrial metals prices whilst a flare-up in tensions between the US and North Korea boosted... 1st September 2017 · 1 min read
