Oil prices rallied this week as traders tracked talks on Iran’s nuclear program and news of tighter US supplies, while cocoa futures hit two-year highs.
Precious and base metals fell on disappointing Chinese economic data and a weaker US dollar, traders said.
OIL: Crude prices advanced as traders reacted to developments over Iran, the outlook for the US Federal Reserve stimulus and data out of the US and China.
Talks between six world powers and major oil producer Iran over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program entered a third day on Friday in Geneva and with markets uncertain of a deal being struck.
According to a draft proposal, the US, Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany want Iran to freeze for six months key parts of its nuclear program.
In return Iran would get minor and, Western officials insist, “reversible” sanctions relief, including unlocking several billion dollars in oil revenues and easing trade restrictions on precious metals and aircraft parts.
Oil traders reacted also to the release on Wednesday of the minutes of the Fed meeting last month, which showed the US central bank has considered the possibility of tapering its huge stimulus program in the coming months.
By Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January jumped to US$110.33 a barrel from US$107.88 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate or light sweet crude for January gained to US$94.69 a barrel from US$93.83.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold and silver prices tumbled in reaction to US stimulus expectations.
Gold is seen as a hedge against inflation, which some argue could be pushed higher by the Fed’s huge bond-buying program.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold slid to US$1,246.25 an ounce from US$1,287.25 a week earlier.
Silver dropped to US$19.93 an ounce from US$20.63.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum slipped to US$1,396 an ounce from US$1,438.
Palladium retreated to US$721 an ounce from US$729.
BASE METALS: Industrial metals were mixed as a weaker US dollar offset downbeat Chinese data, making commodities cheaper amid slack demand.
Also on Thursday, HSBC bank said its preliminary purchasing managers’ index of manufacturing for China came in at 50.4, down from a final reading of 50.9 last month, which was a seven-month high. The figures — the result of weaker export orders — threw a cloud over prospects for the Chinese economy.
By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months rose to US$7,077.75 a tonne from US$6,965.50 a week earlier, while three-month aluminum climbed to US$1,793 a tonne from US$1,784.50
Three-month lead grew to US$2,108 a tonne from US$2,089, while three-month tin dipped to US$22,845 a tonne from US$22,900.
COCOA: Prices jumped on tight supplies of the raw material.
Prices reached the highest points since September 2011, at US$2,820 a tonne in New York and £1,788 a tonne in London deals.
By Friday on LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, cocoa for delivery in March advanced to £1,758 a tonne from £1,713 a week earlier.
On ICE Futures US, cocoa for March climbed to US$2,784 a tonne from US$2,675 a week earlier.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
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
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last