Gold prices struck record highs close to US$1,300 this week as investors sought alternatives to the US dollar amid heightened fears about the fragile state of the US economic recovery.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices hit an all-time peak of US$1,282.97 an ounce on Friday as the US dollar waned on mounting expectations that the US Federal Reserve will pump more money into the US economy.
Silver meanwhile struck the highest levels in two-and-a-half years, at US$20.99 an ounce, on the back of gold’s record run higher.
Gold this week broke June’s record of US$1,265 an ounce.
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold had jumped to US$1,274.00 an ounce from US$1,246.50 a week earlier.
Silver grew to US$20.85 an ounce from US$19.90.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rallied to US$1,618 an ounce from US$1,545.
Palladium advanced to US$547 an ounce from US$518.
OIL: Crude traded mixed as supply disruptions gave way to concerns over weak demand.
By late on Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November stood at US$77.89 a barrel compared with US$77.63 for the October contract a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Texas light sweet crude for October fell to US$73.76 a barrel compared with US$75.86.
BASE METALS: Industrial metals advanced across the board.
By late on Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months rose to US$7,723 a tonne from US$7,555.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Maize, or corn, prices hit the highest levels in nearly two years on supply worries amid keen demand.
By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, maize for delivery in December gained to US$5.06 a bushel from US$4.78 the previous week.
Wheat for December fell to US$7.31 a bushel from US$7.36.
November-dated soyabean meal — used in animal feed — rose to US$10.58 a bushel from US$10.31.
COFFEE: Coffee futures rallied in London, but fell in New York a week after striking 13-year highs on keen demand from speculators.
By Friday on the New York Board of Trade, Arabica for delivery in December fell to US$1.9075 a pound (0.45kg) from US$1.9260 the previous week.
On London’s futures exchange, Robusta for November jumped to US$1,660 a tonne from US$1,588.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
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