Global commodity markets mainly fell in subdued trade this week as investors expressed disappointment at the lack of central bank action to kick-start the struggling global economy.
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi announced no immediate action on the eurozone sovereign debt crisis on Thursday, despite insisting the previous week that he would “do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.”
Markets also stumbled after the US Federal Reserve opted against more quantitative easing stimulus measures on Wednesday.
However, oil prices jumped on Friday as data showed that the US economy created 163,000 jobs last month. Analysts had expected a gain of 100,000 jobs in the US, which is a major consumer of many raw materials.
OIL: Prices staged a late rally as the positive US non-farm payrolls data signaled healthy demand in the world’s biggest oil consuming nation.
A weaker US currency makes dollar-denominated oil more attractive to buyers using stronger currencies, tending to lift crude demand and prices.
Oil also found support this week from geopolitical tensions surrounding key producer Iran.
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday imposed new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil export sector and on a pair of Chinese and Iraqi banks accused of doing business with Tehran.
Oil also rose following a sharper-than-expected drop in US crude stockpiles.
By late Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September jumped to US$108.58 from US$105.94 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or light sweet crude for next month rallied to US$91.02 from US$89.90 a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold fell back, dragging other precious metals lower.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold dropped to US$1,602 an ounce from US$1,618.25 a week earlier.
Silver declined to US$27.25 an ounce from US$27.73.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum dropped to US$1,390 an ounce from US$1,410.
Palladium eased to US$573 an ounce from US$574 an ounce.
BASE METALS: Prices were hit by downbeat Chinese data, with nickel diving to US$15,236 — its lowest since mid-July 2009.
China’s manufacturing activity weakened to an eight-month low last month when the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipped to 50.1 last month from 50.2 in June, according to a statement released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.
By late Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months dipped to US$7,384 a tonne from US$7,537 a week earlier.
Three-month aluminum slipped to US$1,854 a tonne from US$1,888.
Three-month lead edged down to US$1,875 a tonne from US$1,900. Three-month tin declined to US$17,750 a tonne from US$18,035. Three-month nickel slid to US$15,528 a tonne from US$15,930. Three-month zinc dropped to US$1,827 a tonne from US$1,840.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEW PRODUCTS: MediaTek plans to roll out new products this quarter, including a flagship mobile phone chip and a GB10 chip that it is codeveloping with Nvidia Corp MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday projected that revenue this quarter would dip by 7 to 13 percent to between NT$130.1 billion and NT$140 billion (US$4.38 billion and US$4.71 billion), compared with NT$150.37 billion last quarter, which it attributed to subdued front-loading demand and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. The Hsinchu-based chip designer said that the forecast factored in the negative effects of an estimated 6 percent appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the greenback. “As some demand has been pulled into the first half of the year and resulted in a different quarterly pattern, we expect the third quarter revenue to decline sequentially,”
ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip assembly and testing service provider, yesterday said it would boost equipment capital expenditure by up to 16 percent for this year to cope with strong customer demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Aside from AI, a growing demand for semiconductors used in the automotive and industrial sectors is to drive ASE’s capacity next year, the Kaohsiung-based company said. “We do see the disparity between AI and other general sectors, and that pretty much aligns the scenario in the first half of this year,” ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu (吳田玉) told an
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