World commodity markets were rocked this week by weak data in the US, a leading consumer of raw materials, which cast doubt on the prospect of a global economic recovery.
OIL: Crude oil hit eight-month peaks on Tuesday, before tumbling lower as weak US jobs data quashed hopes of a speedy economic recovery.
The market was also pulled lower by the strengthening greenback which makes dollar-priced commodities — like oil — more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies, which in turn dampens demand and pulls prices lower.
“Crude markets were ... lower as market participants continued to digest US employment data in subdued conditions with US markets closed for US Independence Day,” Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar said on Friday.
Meanwhile oil market officials here launched a probe into an alleged rogue trader who earlier this week helped push prices to eight-month peaks, costing his company nearly US$10 million.
PRECIOUS METALS: Prices mostly fell in line with the stronger dollar ahead of the US Independence Day holiday weekend.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold dipped to US$932.50 an ounce from US$942 a week earlier. Silver fell to US$13.44 an ounce from US$14.26.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum sank to US$1,185 an ounce at the late fixing on Friday from US$1,203.
Palladium firmed to US$250 an ounce from US$245.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Grains and soya prices were subdued ahead of an early close on Thursday because of a US public holiday on Friday.
By Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade, maize for delivery in December sank to US$3.57 a bushel from US$4.04 on Friday the previous week.
November-dated soyabean meal — used in animal feed — firmed to US$10.06 from US$9.91.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique