Gold glistened this week, striking a record peak as investors hunted for a safe-haven amid violent unrest in Libya that has sparked fears about spreading instability in the Middle East and North Africa.
New York crude crossed US$104 per barrel to reach the highest level for two-and-a-half years, as the African nation was forced to slash exports.
“Geopolitics and the uncertainty and volatility associated with it continues to set the tone for oil price dynamics,” Barclays Capital analyst Sudakshina Unnikrishnan said. “Unrest in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region continues apace, with Libya effectively remaining out of the oil market; while the replacement of the lost Libyan barrels is eating into spare capacity, rampant demand growth is adding further pressure.”
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold rocketed to an all-time peak at US$1,440.32 per ounce on Wednesday, while silver struck a 30-year pinnacle of US$35.36 on Friday.
“Gold and silver prices have continued to test all-time and 30-year highs respectively as a flight to safety has boosted interest on the back of a combination of the ongoing unrest in the Middle East, higher oil prices, inflationary fears and a weaker dollar,” Unnikrishnan added.
The precious metals draw strength in times of geopolitical turmoil and higher inflation because they are regarded as a safe store of value.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,427 an ounce from US$1,402.50 a week earlier.
Silver increased to US$34.43 an ounce from US$32.54.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum climbed to US$1,828 an ounce from US$1,791.
Palladium rose to US$811 an ounce from US$785.
OIL: New York crude surged to US$104.32 on Friday, hitting a level last seen on Sept. 29, 2008.
“Libya is falling apart and [Libyan leader Muammar] Qaddafi’s attempts to stitch it back together are making the oil situation worse,” Deutsche Bank analyst Adam Sieminski said.
The head of Libya’s National Oil Corp, Shukri Ghanem, told reporters on Thursday that the nation’s production had “been halved.”
“The real fear has been for a wider spread of the uprising across the MENA region with disruptions in oil production happening not just in Libya,” SEB commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said.
Brent oil jumped to US$116.49 on Friday, but held underneath the 2008 peak of US$119.79 that was forged last week.
By Friday afternoon on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery next month rallied to US$115.77 a barrel, compared with US$111.57 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Texas light sweet crude for delivery next month jumped to US$103.45 a barrel, compared with US$97.24 a week earlier.
COCOA: The market rocketed once again to the highest points in more than 30 years, driven by worsening unrest in top producer Ivory Coast.
New York cocoa soared as high as US$3,775 per tonne on Friday, touching a level last seen in early January 1979, while London prices neared the highest point in 33 years.
By Friday on LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, cocoa for May rallied to £2,414 a tonne from £2,371 a week earlier.
On NYBOT, cocoa for delivery in May increased to US$3,766 a tonne from US$3,637 a week earlier.
SUGAR: Prices gained ground.
By Friday on the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the price of unrefined sugar for delivery in May rose to US$0.3062 a pound from US$0.2764 a week earlier.
On LIFFE, the price of a tonne of white sugar for May increased to £759.30 from £699.50 a week earlier.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Prices climbed, with maize striking the highest level since July 2008.
By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, May-dated soyabean meal — used in animal feed — rose to US$14.04 a bushel from US$13.75 a week earlier.
Maize for delivery in May advanced to US$7.31 a bushel from US$7.22.
Wheat for May increased to US$8.26 from US$8.11.
COFFEE: Prices scored multi-year peaks, hitting a 1977 high in New York, as traders fretted over low inventories.
By Friday on NYBOT, Arabica for delivery in May leapt to US$2.773 a pound from US$2.6655 a week earlier.
On LIFFE, Robusta for May rose to US$2,403 a tonne from US$2,328 a week earlier.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day