Commodity prices diverged this week as investors reacted to the Greek debt crisis that has affected major financial markets, traders said.
OIL: Oil prices rose over the week after a topsy-turvy week amid uncertainty over a Greek bailout.
Prices sunk at the start of the week on heightened concerns about a Greek financial crisis after its debt was slashed to junk status, fanning fears of a default.
The oil market was “sharply pressurised by rising concerns over Greece’s debt problems,” analysts at Barclays Capital said.
A fierce global equities sell-off began on Tuesday after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) cut Greek debt to junk, while a downgrade to Portugal also stoked concerns about a widening eurozone crisis.
Crude futures recovered late in the week as fears about Greece eased.
In other news affecting energy market sentiment, the White House indicated that new domestic offshore oil drilling will be on hold until the investigation of a Gulf of Mexico disaster is complete.
British energy giant BP said it was “taking full responsibility” for the oil spill, adding it would pay for “legitimate claims” stemming from the disaster.
By late Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Texas light sweet crude for delivery in June jumped to US$85.62 from US$83.96 a week earlier.
On London’s IntercontinentalExchange, Brent North Sea crude for June delivery climbed to US$87.03 compared with US$86.22.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices reached the highest level this year at US$1,181.75 an ounce.
“Safe haven buying continued to buoy prices following S&P’s downgrading of Spain’s credit rating,” Barclays Capital analyst Suki Cooper said.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold climbed to US$1,179.25 an ounce from US$1,139.50 the previous week.
Silver gained to US$18.62 an ounce from US$17.89.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rose to US$1,738 an ounce from US$1,725.
Palladium dipped to US$552 an ounce from US$555.
BASE METALS: Base metals prices fell across the board “as on-going uncertainties over the Greek debt situation and potential contagion effects weighed on broad market sentiment,” Barclays Capital analyst Nicholas Snowdon said.
By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell to US$7,399 a tonne from US$7,740 a week earlier.
Three-month aluminum dropped to US$2,207 a tonne from US$2,312.
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
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
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
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