Commodity prices diverged this week, but oil topped US$105 per barrel after an upbeat non-farm payrolls report in the US, which is a top consumer of many raw materials including crude.
The US economy added a modest 175,000 jobs last month, official data showed Friday, scotching worries that job creation had slumped in the spring. Market expectations had been for a smaller gain of 159,000.
However, the news sent gold prices sliding as the US dollar strengthened on hopes that the US Federal Reserve would taper its stimulus sooner than anticipated.
The rising greenback makes US dollar-priced commodities more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies, which could hit demand and weigh on prices.
OIL: Prices spiked higher, with Brent oil rallying as high as US$105.01 per barrel on Friday, as the brightening US demand outlook offset a poor start to the week.
“Oil opened the week trading below the psychologically important US$100-per-barrel mark after suffering heavy losses over the weekend, but pushed above US$103 [by] midweek, supported by an improved outlook for demand,” Inenco Group analyst Lucy Sidebotham said.
The US Department of Energy on Wednesday said US crude reserves plunged 6.3 million barrels in the week ended on May 31. That was far more than market expectations for a 400,000-barrel drop.
A decline in stockpiles supports crude prices because it suggests a pick-up in oil demand. Gasoline demand traditionally rises during the US summer driving season, which is currently underway.
By Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery next month jumped to US$104.68 a barrel from US$101.06 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate, or light sweet crude, for next month rallied to US$96.14 per barrel from US$92.67 a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold fell sharply on the back of the strong US dollar on Friday, while platinum rose on supply jitters in key producer South Africa.
“The stronger [US] dollar puts pressure on commodities and speculation that the better-than-expected employment picture may hasten the end of the Fed’s quantitative easing program, easing demand for the yellow metal as an inflation hedge,” CMC Markets analyst Matt Basi said.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold sank to US$1,386 an ounce from US$1,394.50 a week earlier, as silver firmed to US$22.60 an ounce from US$22.57.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rose to US$1,505 an ounce from US$1,459, while palladium increased to US$754 an ounce from US$744.
COCOA: Cocoa futures rebounded on stubborn worries over forecasts of a large deficit.
The International Cocoa Organization last week hiked its forecast to a deficit of 60,000 tonnes for the season closing in September, up from a previous forecast of 45,000.
This week, trade publication Public Ledger predicted an even greater deficit of 74,000 tonnes and forecast a deficit of 178,000 tonnes for the next season.
By Friday on LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, cocoa for delivery next month rose to £1,557 a tonne from £1,502 a week earlier.
On New York’s NYBOT-ICE exchange, cocoa for next month rallied to US$2,341 per tonne from US$2,210.
COFFEE: Prices dove to a three-year low point in New York on expectations of abundant supplies in top producer Brazil, but ended on a mixed note.
By Friday on NYBOT-ICE, Arabica for delivery next month rose to US$0.12725 a pound (0.45kg) from US$0.12665 a week earlier.
On LIFFE, Robusta for next month dropped to US$1,867 a tonne from US$1,892.
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