Gold hit a record peak close to US$1,400 an ounce and oil struck the highest level since late 2008 this week after the US Federal Reserve agreed to pump the world’s biggest economy with fresh stimulus.
Sugar prices reached levels not seen for nearly 30 years on supply concerns.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold hit a record high of US$1,398.25 an ounce on Friday and in its wake, sister metal silver nailed a 30-year peak of US$26.90 an ounce.
“Currency wars, quantitative easing and global economic uncertainty all pose risks to investors. To protect themselves, many have sought the safety of gold,” said Anthony Grech, an analyst at trading firm IG Index. “Silver has the potential to continue outperforming gold, with the metal likely to be driven by increasing industrial use and investment demand.”
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold surged to US$1,395.50 an ounce at the late fixing, from US$1,346.77 a week earlier.
Silver advanced to US$26.14 an ounce from US$23.96.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rallied to US$1,764 an ounce from US$1,700.
Palladium increased to US$687 an ounce from US$640.
OIL: Oil prices rocketed, reaching two-year highs on Friday in New York. Ahead of positive US jobs data, New York crude struck US$87.22 a barrel — the highest point since October 2008. In London, Brent crude oil reached a six-month high of US$88.80.
Oil was rallying “thanks to increased investor risk appetite and the weaker US dollar,” the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a report.
“The US Federal Reserve’s announcement ... boosted commodity market sentiment and supported prices across the board,” it added.
By late Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December soared to US$88.10 a barrel from US$82.10 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Texas light sweet crude for December surged to US$86.77 a barrel from US$83.31.
BASE METALS: Copper reached the highest levels in more than two years, at US$8,769 a tonne.
“The Fed’s decision to buy more US treasuries ... has been interpreted in the case of metals to mean that economic growth in the US will be supported in every possible way and thus also the demand for commodities,” analysts at Commerzbank said.
By late Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months jumped to US$8,730 a tonne from US$8,198 a week earlier.
Three-month aluminum grew to US$2,466 a tonne from US$2,340.
SUGAR: Sugar futures hit the highest point in almost three decades in New York trade on Friday.
The price of unrefined sugar for delivery in March jumped to US$0.3230 a pound (0.45kg) — the best level since January 1981.
A tonne of white sugar reached a 23 year peak of ￡788 a tonne in London.
Sugar, which has shot up by 140 percent since May, is used mainly in the food and drinks sector, but is also used for the production of ethanol — a cheaper version of gasoline, or motor fuel.
In recent weeks and months, sugar has also rocketed higher as floods and droughts hamper production of the widely used raw material.
By Friday on the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the price of unrefined sugar for delivery in March jumped to US$0.3181 a pound from US$0.2909 a week earlier.
On LIFFE — London’s futures exchange — the price of a tonne of white sugar for December rallied to ￡776 from ￡723.20.
COFFEE: Coffee prices reached multi-year peaks owing to tight supplies.
“Low stock levels and delays in harvesting in a number of countries due to extended rains will continue to intensify concerns about short-term market supply,” the International Coffee Organization said this week.
By Friday on NYBOT, Arabica for delivery in December stood at US$2.0420 a pound compared with US$2.0260 the previous week.
On LIFFE, Robusta for January gained to US$1,981 a tonne from US$1,959.
COCOA: Cocoa futures dropped amid abundant supplies of the commodity.
By Friday On NYBOT, cocoa for delivery in December fell to US$2,720 a tonne from US$2,801 a week earlier. On LIFFE, cocoa for December weakened to ￡1,795 a tonne from ￡1,858.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Soya prices struck fresh two-year highs.
By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, January-dated soyabean meal stood at US$12.79 a bushel from US$12.36.
Maize for delivery in December climbed to US$5.88 a bushel from US$5.82 the previous week.
Wheat for December was flat at US$7.17.
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
STILL LOADED: Last year’s richest person, Quanta Computer Inc chairman Barry Lam, dropped to second place despite an 8 percent increase in his wealth to US$12.6 billion Staff writer, with CNA Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Richard Tsai (蔡明興), the brothers who run Fubon Group (富邦集團), topped the Forbes list of Taiwan’s 50 richest people this year, released on Wednesday in New York. The magazine said that a stronger New Taiwan dollar pushed the combined wealth of Taiwan’s 50 richest people up 13 percent, from US$174 billion to US$197 billion, with 36 of the people on the list seeing their wealth increase. That came as Taiwan’s economy grew 4.6 percent last year, its fastest pace in three years, driven by the strong performance of the semiconductor industry, the magazine said. The Tsai
RSS