Crude oil prices hit a one-year high of US$82 and metals rallied this week as the US currency struck a 14-month low against the euro as investors took on greater risk amid signs of recovery, traders said.
Among the soft commodities, cocoa prices struck 24-year highs on prospects of a poor crop in leading producer Ivory Coast. Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates said a weak dollar “precipitated some buying in the commodities market, not only in oil.”
The European single currency jumped above US$1.50 on Wednesday for the first time since August last year as investors looked beyond the safe-haven US unit, of which the super-low interest rates are no longer attractive as recovery takes hold.
OIL: Oil prices rallied in the past week, with New York crude hitting a one-year high of US$82, driven by a weak dollar and optimism over the global economic recovery, analysts said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, touched US$82 a barrel on Wednesday — a level last seen on Oct. 14 last year.
The falling dollar makes dollar-priced oil cheaper for buyers holding stronger currencies, and therefore tends to stimulate crude demand and eventually prices.
OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said in London on Thursday that the cartel would consider ramping up crude oil production at its next meeting in December should economic growth improve and other conditions be met.
The cartel “will not hesitate to increase its production in December,” he told reporters, adding the decision was dependent also on higher oil prices and no floating storage of crude.
By Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), light sweet crude for delivery in November rose to US$80.48 dollars compared with US$77.32 for the expired November contract a week earlier.
On London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for December delivery climbed to US$78.91 from US$75.93 dollars a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: The price of gold rose but failed to beat its recent record high of US$1,070.80 an ounce.
Gold hit an all-time high the previous week as the dollar weakened before falling on profit-taking. Platinum and palladium reached their highest levels in more than a year.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold climbed to US$1,061.75 an ounce from US$1,047.50 a week earlier.
Silver gained to US$17.65 an ounce from US$17.31.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum advanced to US$1,372 an ounce at the late fixing on Friday from US$1,346.
Palladium firmed to US$338 an ounce from US$326.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2