Commodities Weekly Resilience of industrial commodity prices reassuring Given the negativity in global equity markets, the relative stability of industrial commodity prices (especially metals) over the last few weeks has been reassuring. Even Brent crude, while slipping... 12th February 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodity prices rally on dollar weakness A visitor from Mars might have been confused by the responses of commodity markets to US economic data in the past few days. Prices jumped in dollar terms after the publication on Wednesday of a weak... 5th February 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Further rally in oil price may need stronger foundations This week’s big story has, of course, been the rebound in oil prices (to nearly $35pb) on unconfirmed reports that Russia and OPEC may finally be willing to agree coordinated cuts in output. We are... 29th January 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil prices jump on Saudi comments and US blizzard After another poor start, the prices of industrial commodities ended the week on the up. The main positives were hints of additional monetary policy support from the ECB and the absence of any more... 22nd January 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil price slide increases chances of a V-shaped rebound After another poor start, the prices of industrial commodities ended the week on the up. The main positives were hints of additional monetary policy support from the ECB and the absence of any more... 15th January 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly China’s commodity imports end 2015 on a strong note China’s imports of major commodities in volume terms rose in December. Of course, low prices probably encouraged some buying, but it also seems likely that policy support, including higher... 13th January 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Poor start gives way to some more encouraging signs The prices of key industrial commodities fell further in the first full week of 2016, led by oil, as China worries resurfaced again. The markets also concluded (rightly, in our view) that the... 8th January 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Too soon to sound the “all clear” on the Fed The muted responses in commodity markets to the first hike in US interest rates since 2006 were a tribute to the clear communications of the Fed (in contrast to those of OPEC!) and, in our view... 18th December 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Near-term risks abound, but oil should recover in 2016 Brent crude's renewed slide below $40 per barrel was the damning verdict on OPEC's failure to agree on a number even for what is largely a notional output target. In principle, prices could keep... 11th December 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil prices to recover next year, whatever OPEC targets We, and we suspect many others, are still trying to work out exactly what OPEC decided at Friday’s meeting. Usually reliable sources have reported that OPEC has agreed to raise its output target from... 4th December 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Precious metals struggle ahead of first US rate hike US dollar strength and the prospect of rising US interest rates continued to weigh on precious metals prices this week. In contrast, industrial metals prices were volatile, but generally ended the... 27th November 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly China worries continue to weigh on sentiment Prices of most industrial metals fell sharply this week, largely reflecting persistent investor concerns about the prospects for Chinese demand. The latest data showed LME money managers cutting their... 20th November 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Investor sentiment remains deeply negative Prices of industrial commodities have taken a battering this week as investor sentiment continues to sour. While Chinese economic data painted a subdued picture of activity in October, in our view... 13th November 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Focus to shift back (at least briefly) to China The key drivers of commodity prices in the past week have been the ebb and flow of expectations for US interest rates and speculation of tighter supply – the latter boosting US crude oil prices and... 30th October 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Dollar strength and supply worries weigh again The mood in commodity markets soured once more in the past week, with any positive developments outweighed by the negatives, including renewed US dollar strength, OPEC disunity, high US oil stocks and... 23rd October 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Prices consolidate but tone generally positive Commodity prices have given back some of the previous week’s gains, due in part to some mixed signals from the US and Chinese economies. Nonetheless, the overall tone remains positive, helped by... 16th October 2015 · 1 min read
