Commodity markets traded mixed this week as dealers reacted to a renewed escalation of tensions over the Ukraine crisis and metrological developments.
Many markets began the week on Tuesday following the Easter break that cut short the previous week’s trading.
OIL: Crude futures diverged as traders weighed increased worries over the Russia-Ukraine standoff against data showing that US crude stockpiles are at an all-time high.
Standard and Poor’s downgraded its rating of Russia’s ability to repay debt as alarm grew over the effects of the crisis on the country’s economy amid increased capital flight and slumping growth.
The Bank of Russia also hiked interest rates by half-a-percentage-point to curb inflation, which could then help limit capital flight and pressures on the ruble.
Kiev on Friday accused Moscow of seeking a “third world war” as tensions soared in eastern Ukraine and US President Barack Obama led a diplomatic charge against Russia.
As a major conduit for Russian natural gas exports to Western Europe, Ukraine is monitored closely by investors fearing that a full-scale armed conflict will disrupt supplies and send energy prices soaring.
Counterbalancing the Eastern Europe strains, the US Department of Energy on Wednesday said commercial crude oil stocks rose 3.5 million barrels to 397.7 million barrels for the week ended on April 18.
By Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for June nudged higher to US$109.46 a barrel from US$109.44 on April 17.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate, or light sweet crude, for June stood at US$100.76 a barrel compared with US$103.85 for next month.
PRECIOUS METALS: Prices steadied after briefly sliding to multi-month lows on Thursday.
“Gold has broken through the US$1,300 barrier today as the precious metal benefitted from a flight to quality. As long as the situation in Ukraine remains tense, the metal will be in demand,” IG market analyst David Madden said.
However, on Thursday, prices “were trading sharply lower first thing... as investors again showed a greater appetite for equities over the safe-haven metals after earnings results from Apple and Facebook both came in much better than expected,” Forex.com technical analyst Fawad Razaqzada said.
By Friday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold edged up to US$1,301.25 an ounce from US$1,299 on April 17, while silver rose to US$19.66 an ounce from US$19.62 over the same period.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum fell to US$1,418 an ounce from US$1,437, as palladium rose to US$805 from US$801.
COFFEE: Arabica-quality coffee hit a 26-month high point, supported by drought conditions in major producer Brazil.
New York prices reached US$0.219 on Thursday — the highest point since February 2012.
By Friday on the ICE Futures US exchange, arabica for July rose to US$0.21115 a pound (0.45kg) from US$0.19180 on April 17.
On LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, Robusta for July gained to US$2,156 a tonne from US$2,086.
RUBBER: Prices in Kuala Lumpur fell further on weak demand from top buyer China.
The Malaysian Rubber Board’s benchmark SMR20 slipped to US$0.17085 a kilo from the US$0.18160 seen a week earlier.
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
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
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