Commodity markets experienced another volatile week, with New York oil prices diving again, as traders eyed stubborn demand fears in consumer nations and tracked sharp fluctuations in the US dollar.
Most raw materials had already slumped in value the previous week on the back of downbeat economic data and fears of weak energy demand in the US and elsewhere.
“Price stability across many markets at the start of the week gave way to another move lower by midweek as a stronger dollar, macroeconomic concerns and risk reduction have dragged prices lower,” Barclays Capital analyst Sudakshina Unnikrishnan said.
OIL: New York crude sank even lower on the back of mounting concerns that high price levels could erode demand.
By late Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June had risen to US$113.37 a barrel from US$112.85 the previous week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate, or light sweet crude, for June dived to US$98.81 a barrel from US$100.75.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold and -silver witnessed highly volatile trade, rebounding sharply before diving lower on demand fears, but ended the week in positive territory on the back of the weaker greenback.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,506 an ounce from US$1,486.50 the previous week.
Silver rallied to US$36.20 an ounce from US$34.20.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum decreased to US$1,774 an ounce from US$1,789.
Palladium slid to US$718 an ounce from US$721.
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FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six