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 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 Chart Pack A weaker US dollar boosts commodities The prices of most commodities rose last month. In part, this was due to a weaker dollar. But stronger economic activity data for China also played a role. We think that growth in China is likely to... 1st August 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Bond market takes RBI intervention in its stride The bond market has taken the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) surprise announcement of increased open market sales of government securities in its stride, with yields on local-currency debt remaining... 19th July 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Watch How important is Africa for agriculturals? Given Africa’s large size and geographic diversity, most of the world’s key agricultural commodities are produced somewhere on the continent. In this Commodities Watch, we first discuss the importance... 28th June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly The losing streak continues It has been a poor week for most commodity prices. The Fed’s decision to hike interest rates on Wednesday weighed on the prices of gold and industrial metals. Oil prices continued to drop, partly due... 16th June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly A case of the jitters hits commodity markets Oil prices have continued to fall on fears that the OPEC supply cuts will not be sufficient to clear the excess in the market. In addition, a weak May unofficial PMI reading out of China on Thursday... 2nd June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack A weaker dollar fails to lift commodities With the exception of a few agriculturals, the prices of most commodities fell last month. Markets chose to shrug off the persistent weakness in the US dollar. Instead, data showing a slowdown in... 1st June 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Watch WASDE projections a mixed bag for agriculturals On the 11th May, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) published its first projections for the 2017/18 season. In this Commodities Watch, we discuss the USDA estimates and what they mean for our... 22nd May 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Watch Poor prospects for the price of palm oil The price of palm oil has been falling so far in 2017, in tandem with most other agricultural commodities. In this Commodities Watch, we will discuss whether the recent price weakness is justified by... 10th May 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Rupee surges to 20-month high The rally in the Indian rupee since the start of 2017 has continued in recent weeks, driving the currency to its highest rate against the US dollar in almost two years. While we doubt that the rally... 21st April 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack A month of two halves After a weak start to the month, the prices of both gold and oil subsequently rebounded, despite the Fed’s decision to hike interest rates. The accompanying dovish statement lowered expectations of... 3rd April 2017 · 1 min read
India Chart Pack Demonetisation impact wearing off The latest economic data for India suggest that the most acute impact from the government’s demonetisation measures has now passed. Both the manufacturing and services PMI readings for February came... 23rd March 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Optimism prevails, for now It has been an eventful week in commodity markets but, for the most part, prices have risen. The US 25bp rate hike on Wednesday was widely anticipated so markets chose to focus on the fact that the... 17th March 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Watch Policy uncertainty is weighing on US agriculture In late February, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) published its first assessment of the prospects for US crops in 2017/18. In this Commodities Watch, we will discuss the USDA’s forecasts and... 8th March 2017 · 1 min read
