Commodity prices rallied to multi-month highs this week on increasing signs that the worst of the world recession may be over.
“The recent surge in commodity prices appears to have been driven primarily by hopes of a strong recovery in the global economy,” Capital Economics analyst Julian Jessop said.
“However, there are still many reasons to be cautious. For a start, although some commodity firms have undoubtedly taken advantage of lower prices to rebuild stocks in anticipation of a pick-up in final demand, that increase in demand has yet to materialize,” he said.
OIL: New York crude oil hit US$70 for the first time in seven months on Friday as the US dollar slid on news of a dramatic slowdown in US job losses, traders said.
New York crude spiked to US$70.32 a barrel, the highest level since Nov. 4. It later retreated sharply as the dollar recovered.
“This initial rally in crude looks to have failed,” aided by a recovering dollar, said Adam Klopfenstein, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock.
A struggling US currency makes dollar-priced crude cheaper for buyers holding stronger currencies, in turn stimulating demand and pushing up prices. When the dollar strengthens the reverse tends to apply.
After plunging from record highs above US$147 last July on supply concerns, oil prices touched multi-year lows in December, at one point nearing US$32 a barrel, as the economic slowdown crushed demand for energy.
On Friday, on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), light sweet crude for delivery in July closed at US$68.44 a barrel from US$65.94 a week earlier. It was down US$0.34 from Thursday, after a jump to US$70.32 a barrel, the highest level since Nov. 4.
On London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for July climbed to US$68.34 a barrel from US$65.05 a week earlier. Brent crude fell US$0.37 from Friday, having spiked as high as US$69.91.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices approached US$1,000 an ounce before traders cashed in their gains late on. By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold fell to US$962 an ounce from US$975.50 a week earlier.
Silver rose to US$15.65 an ounce from US$15.52.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum climbed to US$1,275 an ounce at the late fixing on Friday from US$1,175.
Palladium jumped to US$257 an ounce from US$236.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Soya and grains prices traded mixed.
By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, maize for delivery in July rose to US$4.45 a bushel from US$4.36 a week earlier.
July-dated soyabean meal — used in animal feed — increased to US$12.29 from US$11.84.
Wheat for July fell to US$6.28 a bushel from US$6.37.
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as the chipmaker prepares for volume production of Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips. It was Huang’s third trip to Taiwan this year, indicating that Nvidia’s supply chain is deeply connected to Taiwan. Its partners also include packager Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達). “My main purpose is to visit TSMC,” Huang said yesterday. “As you know, we have next-generation architecture called Rubin. Rubin is very advanced. We have now taped out six brand new
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