Commodity prices diverged this week as traders reacted to a mixed demand outlook for raw materials.
OIL: World oil prices rose this week as traders eyed demand concerns, the US dollar and hopes of global economic recovery.
“The continued economic optimism buoyed the oil price above the mark of US$82 per barrel,” Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said.
Crude oil began the week with slender gains on Monday as the euphoria faded from upbeat US jobs data that had boosted prices the previous week.
The market then drifted lower on Tuesday, under pressure from a stronger greenback, which makes dollar-priced oil more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies, and tends to dent demand.
But prices rose on Wednesday after news of a drop in crude oil and distillate stockpiles in the US that suggested stronger demand in the world’s largest energy consumer as it emerges from recession.
By late Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), Texas light sweet crude for delivery in April was up at US$82.42 from US$81.86 a week earlier.
Brent North Sea crude for April rose to US$80.56 from US$80.33 on London’s IntercontinentalExchange (ICE).
BASE METALS: Copper prices retreated on fears of a drop in Chinese demand. Prices had jumped the previous week on better-than-expected US jobs data and following a massive earthquake in Chile, the world’s largest producer of copper.
By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell to US$7,493 a tonne from US$7,600 the previous week.
Three-month aluminum fell to US$2,243 a tonne from US$2,258.
PRECIOUS METALS: Palladium was the star performer among precious metals, hitting a two-year high of US$480 an ounce, before ending the week lower on profit-taking.
By Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold fell to US$1,106.25 an ounce from US$1,135 the previous week.
Silver rose to US$17.31 an ounce from US$17.25.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum jumped to US$1,619 an ounce from US$1,578.
Palladium dipped to US$464 an ounce from US$466.
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