Commodity prices rallied this week as the US dollar weakened against the euro in reaction to global efforts to tackle an escalating eurozone debt crisis, analysts said.
The US dollar won back some ground on Friday as traders booked profits ahead of next week’s EU summit and after official data showed the US unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent last month, its lowest level since March 2009.
Raw material prices, like equities, were buoyed this week after the central banks of the US, the eurozone, Britain, Japan, Canada and Switzerland cut the cost of providing US dollars to banks, giving more liquidity to financial markets.
Commodity prices also won support after China unexpectedly cut its ratio of obligatory bank reserves, in its strongest move yet to ease restrictions on lending.
“In the current environment, external markets, attitudes towards risk and views on the global economy are likely to stay in the driver’s seat” as far as commodities are concerned, Barclays Capital analysts said in a note to clients.
“This week has seen progress surrounding the eurozone debt crisis ahead of the ... EU summit next week,” they wrote.
OIL: Prices rose as the euro rallied against the US dollar. A weaker greenback makes US dollar-denominated commodities like oil cheaper for buyers holding stronger currencies, lifting demand and prices of raw materials.
Crude futures also rose this week on international tensions over major oil exporter Iran. The EU, piling pressure on Iran after an attack on the British embassy, beefed up sanctions on Thursday over Tehran’s nuclear program and threatened to hit its oil and finances next.
By late Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery next month rose to US$108.92 a barrel from US$106.11 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or light sweet crude for next month jumped to US$100.26 a barrel from US$96.06.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold, seen as a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty, led the precious metals complex higher.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold advanced to US$1,747 an ounce from US$1,688.50 the previous week.
Silver jumped to US$33.15 an ounce from US$31.24.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rose to US$1,559 an ounce from US$1,529. Palladium rallied to US$653 an ounce from US$572.
BASE METALS: Industrial metals prices mainly rallied, with copper gaining 8 percent. By late Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months rose to US$7,883 a tonne from US$7,276 the previous week.
Three-month aluminum rose to US$2,145 a tonne from US$2,004.
Three-month lead increased to US$2,120 a tonne from US$1,994.
Three-month tin declined to US$19,800 a tonne from US$20,600.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
RSS