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.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
In the wake of strong global demand for AI applications, Taiwan’s export-oriented economy accelerated with the composite index of economic indicators flashing the first “red” light in December for one year, indicating the economy is in booming mode, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Moreover, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the potential state of the economy over the next six months, also moved higher in December amid growing optimism over the outlook, the NDC said. In December, the index of economic indicators rose one point from a month earlier to 38, at the lower end of the “red” light.
RSS