Global oil prices sank this week on receding tensions over Iran and Syria, while coffee struck another three-year low on the back of plentiful supplies, dealers said.
Sentiment was also hit by the US budget impasse, with lawmakers unable to reach agreement over a budget just days before a deadline that could see parts of the federal government shut down.
OIL: New York crude futures slid as the US and Russia agreed a draft UN Security Council resolution on destroying Syria’s chemical arms, easing Middle East supply worries.
Washington and Moscow agreed the draft council resolution on Thursday, breaking a prolonged deadlock over the bitter conflict that has rocked the oil market in recent weeks.
Prices were also pushed lower by a thaw in relations between the West and Iran, as US Secretary of State John Kerry met Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday.
The meeting raised hopes of an easing of Western sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, which would allow the major OPEC producer to export oil more freely.
By Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November fell to US$108.49 per barrel from US$109.05 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate, or light sweet crude, for November dropped to US$102.87 per barrel from US$105.59 for the expired October contract a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices dipped on easing demand for the safe-haven metal, but losses were capped by worries over next week’s potential US government shutdown.
“Either way, safe-haven assets such as US Treasuries and gold are likely to stay in demand while equities should remain under pressure,” Capital Economics analyst Jessica Hinds said. “Even if an agreement over the federal spending authority is reached, this would still leave the even bigger worry for investors that the debt ceiling must be raised before the [US] Treasury runs out of money some time shortly after Oct. 17.”
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold dipped to US$1,341 an ounce from US$1,349.25 a week earlier, while silver slipped to US$21.61 an ounce from US$22.74.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum fell to US$1,416 an ounce from US$1,447, as palladium declined to US$725 an ounce from US$726.
COFFEE: Prices forged fresh multi-year low points as sentiment was dogged by speculative selling and the prospect of solid output from key producer Vietnam.
“Selling was tied to ... wire stories highlighting the potential for very strong production in Vietnam this year. The harvest there is about to start and some industry sources in Europe told the wires that production could be as high as 29 million bags,” Price Group analyst Jack Scoville said. “The Vietnamese government estimates production at 25 million bags and private sources in Vietnam have estimated production as high as 27 million bags.”
By Friday on NYBOT-ICE, Arabica for delivery in December rose to US$0.11560 a pound (0.45kg) from US$0.11525 a week earlier.
On LIFFE, Robusta for November eased to US$1,647 a tonne from US$1,680 a week ago.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”