Commodity prices were mixed this week in volatile trading as markets tracked a worsening economic outlook and rising expectations that Greece faced a default on its debt.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold’s record-breaking run upward was halted by a stronger US dollar, which made the metal more expensive for buyers holding euros — denting investor demand.
“Although prices might first encounter a soft patch, gold could rally through the US$2,000 mark by year-end,” GFMS said in its Gold Survey 2011. It said it expected this “to mainly arise through further growth in investment.”
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold fell to US$1,794 an ounce, from US$1,851 the previous week.
Silver dropped to US$39.97 an ounce from US$41.40.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum retreated to US$1,798 an ounce from US$1,842.
OIL: Crude futures rose during a trading week dominated by a weak outlook for energy demand amid slowing economic growth.
“The global economic situation has also dampened oil demand growth,” analysts at research group JBC Energy said in a market note on Friday.
By late Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November stood at US$113.43 a barrel, compared with US$112.19 for the October contract a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or light sweet crude for October, rose to US$88.11 a barrel from US$86.66 a week earlier.
BASE METALS: Prices of base metals diverged.
On Friday on the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper for delivery in three months fell to US$8,793 a tonne from US$8,883 the previous week.
Three-month aluminium rose to US$2,381 a tonne from US$2,375.
Three-month lead dropped to US$2,404 a tonne from US$2,443.
Three-month nickel advanced to US$21,700 a tonne from US$21,450.
COCOA: New York prices hit the lowest levels this year, striking US$2,776 a tonne, owing to high stockpiles in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
By Friday on LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, cocoa for delivery in December fell to £1,813 a tonne from £1,862 the previous week.
SUGAR: Sugar retreated on expectations that this year’s to next year’s season would see the first major surplus in three years.
Friday on NYBOT-ICE, the price of unrefined sugar for delivery next month slipped to US$0.29 a pound from US$0.291 the previous week.
On LIFFE, the price of a tonne of white sugar for December stood at £708 compared with £767 for the October contract the previous week.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
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Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San