Gold glistened this week, striking a record peak as investors hunted for a safe-haven amid violent unrest in Libya that has sparked fears about spreading instability in the Middle East and North Africa.
New York crude crossed US$104 per barrel to reach the highest level for two-and-a-half years, as the African nation was forced to slash exports.
“Geopolitics and the uncertainty and volatility associated with it continues to set the tone for oil price dynamics,” Barclays Capital analyst Sudakshina Unnikrishnan said. “Unrest in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region continues apace, with Libya effectively remaining out of the oil market; while the replacement of the lost Libyan barrels is eating into spare capacity, rampant demand growth is adding further pressure.”
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold rocketed to an all-time peak at US$1,440.32 per ounce on Wednesday, while silver struck a 30-year pinnacle of US$35.36 on Friday.
“Gold and silver prices have continued to test all-time and 30-year highs respectively as a flight to safety has boosted interest on the back of a combination of the ongoing unrest in the Middle East, higher oil prices, inflationary fears and a weaker dollar,” Unnikrishnan added.
The precious metals draw strength in times of geopolitical turmoil and higher inflation because they are regarded as a safe store of value.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,427 an ounce from US$1,402.50 a week earlier.
Silver increased to US$34.43 an ounce from US$32.54.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum climbed to US$1,828 an ounce from US$1,791.
Palladium rose to US$811 an ounce from US$785.
OIL: New York crude surged to US$104.32 on Friday, hitting a level last seen on Sept. 29, 2008.
“Libya is falling apart and [Libyan leader Muammar] Qaddafi’s attempts to stitch it back together are making the oil situation worse,” Deutsche Bank analyst Adam Sieminski said.
The head of Libya’s National Oil Corp, Shukri Ghanem, told reporters on Thursday that the nation’s production had “been halved.”
“The real fear has been for a wider spread of the uprising across the MENA region with disruptions in oil production happening not just in Libya,” SEB commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said.
Brent oil jumped to US$116.49 on Friday, but held underneath the 2008 peak of US$119.79 that was forged last week.
By Friday afternoon on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery next month rallied to US$115.77 a barrel, compared with US$111.57 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Texas light sweet crude for delivery next month jumped to US$103.45 a barrel, compared with US$97.24 a week earlier.
COCOA: The market rocketed once again to the highest points in more than 30 years, driven by worsening unrest in top producer Ivory Coast.
New York cocoa soared as high as US$3,775 per tonne on Friday, touching a level last seen in early January 1979, while London prices neared the highest point in 33 years.
By Friday on LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, cocoa for May rallied to ￡2,414 a tonne from ￡2,371 a week earlier.
On NYBOT, cocoa for delivery in May increased to US$3,766 a tonne from US$3,637 a week earlier.
SUGAR: Prices gained ground.
By Friday on the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the price of unrefined sugar for delivery in May rose to US$0.3062 a pound from US$0.2764 a week earlier.
On LIFFE, the price of a tonne of white sugar for May increased to ￡759.30 from ￡699.50 a week earlier.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Prices climbed, with maize striking the highest level since July 2008.
By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, May-dated soyabean meal — used in animal feed — rose to US$14.04 a bushel from US$13.75 a week earlier.
Maize for delivery in May advanced to US$7.31 a bushel from US$7.22.
Wheat for May increased to US$8.26 from US$8.11.
COFFEE: Prices scored multi-year peaks, hitting a 1977 high in New York, as traders fretted over low inventories.
By Friday on NYBOT, Arabica for delivery in May leapt to US$2.773 a pound from US$2.6655 a week earlier.
On LIFFE, Robusta for May rose to US$2,403 a tonne from US$2,328 a week earlier.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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