Oil prices rebounded and gold firmed this week as markets reacted to geopolitical concerns and the outlook for interest rates in the US.
A strong US dollar capped gains for certain commodities priced in the US unit and caused others to drop week-on-week.
The dollar has fought back against the euro in recent weeks as markets bet on rises to US interest rates later this year despite a clouded outlook. This has made dollar-denominated raw materials like oil and gold more expensive for holders of rival currencies, denting demand.
Photo: Bloomberg
OIL: Crude prices rose, supported by concerns over Iran’s nuclear deal that helped to offset worries about a US supply glut according to analysts.
By Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May jumped to US$56.84 a barrel from US$54.80 on Thursday of the previous week, when trading stopped earlier than usual for Easter.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate or light sweet crude for May climbed to US$50.80 compared with US$49.29.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold rose slightly, with support coming from the fact that it is regarded by investors as a safe bet in times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
By Friday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold firmed to US$1,207.35 an ounce from US$1,198.50 on Thursday of the previous week.
Silver fell to US$16.55 an ounce from US$16.84.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rose to US$1,171 an ounce from US$1,154.
Palladium increased to US$777 an ounce from US$751.
BASE METALS: Base or industrial metals diverged as traders assessed the growth outlook for China.
By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months rose to US$6,025.50 a tonne from US$5,993 on Thursday of the previous week.
Three-month aluminum fell to US$1,766.50 a tonne from US$1,774.50.
Three-month lead increased to US$1,998.50 a tonne from US$1,870.
Three-month tin dropped to US$16,570 a tonne from US$16,750.
Three-month nickel retreated to US$12,680 a tonne from US$12,935.
Three-month zinc edged higher to US$2,107.50 a tonne from US$2,081.50.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by