The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials rose 0.9 percent to 663.96 in New York, the second straight increase. Natural gas led the advance, while silver and cotton declined.
NATURAL GAS: Natural gas futures gained for a second day on Friday in New York on speculation that stockpiles would not reach capacity before winter weather boosts heating demand.
US inventories rose by 67 billion cubic feet last week to 3.496 trillion, below the five-year average increase for the week of 73 billion, a report by the US Department of Energy showed on Thursday. Natural gas for October delivery rose US$0.088, or 3.1 percent, to settle at US$2.885 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures declined 2 percent this week and 3.5 percent this year.
CRUDE OIL: Oil advanced as optimism that the US bank stimulus would revive the global economy pared crude’s biggest weekly decline in more than three months.
NYMEX crude oil for November delivery increased US$0.47, or 0.5 percent, to settle at US$92.89 a barrel, the first gain in five days. The October contract expired at US$91.87 on Thursday. The front-month price is down 6.2 percent this week, the biggest drop since June 1.
Brent oil for November settlement climbed US$1.39, or 1.3 percent, to end the session at US$111.42 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold futures rose for the fifth straight week, capping the longest rally since February, as monetary stimulus by central banks boosted demand for the metal as a store of value.
Gold futures for December delivery increased 0.4 percent to settle at US$1,778 an ounce on the COMEX in New York. Prices rose 0.3 percent this week, the fifth straight gain and the longest rally since early February.
Silver futures for December delivery fell 0.1 percent to US$34.638 an ounce in New York.
NYMEX platinum futures for October delivery added 0.8 percent to US$1,637.60 an ounce. Palladium futures for December delivery gained 1.6 percent to US$671.55 an ounce.
BASE METALS: Copper futures rose the most in a week on speculation that European officials would unveil a bailout plan for Spain as soon as next week, easing concerns that metal demand would ebb.
Copper futures for December delivery advanced 0.8 percent to close at US$3.789 a pound on the Comex in New York, the biggest gain for a most-active contract since Sept. 14. The metal, down 1.1 percent this week, has climbed 10 percent this year.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months climbed 0.1 percent to US$8,281.50 a tonne.
Zinc, lead, tin, aluminum and nickel also gained.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure