Commodity prices faced choppy trade this week, hit by spreading concern that the US economy has run into serious trouble after publication of a dismal payrolls report.
“It has been a very volatile week with choppy trading conditions across the markets,” Sucden commodities analyst Myrto Sokou said. “Fairly disappointing figures from the US regarding poor manufacturing, construction and employment data weighed heavily on the market sentiment and confirmed a slowdown in the economy.”
“However, on the other hand, the weak US dollar provides strong support to oil and base metals prices, holding prices at fairly high levels,” Sokou said.
OIL: Oil prices fell on Friday as traders absorbed a much weaker-than-expected non-farm payrolls report in top crude consumer the US.
Prices took a hit after Wednesday’s news that US crude reserves jumped 2.9 million barrels in the week ending May 27, confounding market expectations of a drop.
By late Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July rose to US$115.12 a barrel from US$114.67 the previous week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate, or light sweet crude, for July eased to US$99.75 a barrel from US$100.35.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold enjoyed solid gains, garnering support from its status as a safe haven in uncertain economic times.
“Amid these tentative economic conditions, gold continues to remain the highlight of the week, posting fresh gains, as uncertain economic conditions in the eurozone, Yemen and the United States prompt investors to more safe choices,” Sokou said.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,540 an ounce from US$1,533 the previous week.
Silver sank to US$35.19 an ounce from US$37.69.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum climbed to US$1,807 an ounce from US$1,779.
Palladium gained to US$770 an ounce from US$757.
BASE METALS: Industrial metals prices mostly fell against a backdrop of downbeat global economic data.
By late Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell to US$9,006.25 a tonne from US$9,184 the previous week.
Three-month aluminum rose to US$2,627.50 a tonne from US$2,601.
Three-month lead dipped to US$2,407 a tonne from US$2,514.
Three-month tin sank to US$25,810 a tonne from US$27,300.
Three-month zinc eased to US$2,239.50 a tonne from US$2,279.
Three-month nickel dropped to US$22,605 a tonne from US$23,025.
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