Commodity markets swung between losses and gains this week, mirroring the performance of the US dollar.
The US currency, which at the start of the week was pushing the euro toward parity, began to fall after the US Federal Reserve dropped its pledge to remain “patient” on raising US interest rates. The dropping of the key word from its policy statement was a significant step away from its crisis-based monetary policy since 2008 that resulted eventually in the Fed cutting its main rate to zero.
Additionally this week, a cautious Fed marked down its growth forecast for this year by 0.3 percentage point to between 2.3 and 2.7 percent, saying that US economic growth had “moderated somewhat” since January.
OIL: New York’s main contract fell to US$42.05 a barrel on Wednesday, its lowest level since March 2009, with the market under persistent pressure from large supplies of crude and a strong US dollar, traders said.
However, the price rebounded on Friday, as traders snapped up the euro after Greece’s deal with its key European partners, who agreed to finish work “as fast as possible” on completing its EU-IMF rescue program. Oil markets are also tracking the global supply glut, which was made worse by the 10th straight weekly increase in US crude inventories.
By Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May stood at US$54.99 a barrel compared with US$55.99 for the expired April contract a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate or light sweet crude for April rose to US$46.17 a barrel from US$45.28 a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold recovered after forging its lowest level since December the previous week and as the market tracked developments surrounding the outlook for US interest rates.
“A subdued inflation outlook, a rising dollar and recent weakness in economic data may sway the Fed from going too aggressive on rates,” Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.
By Friday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rose to US$1,183.10 an ounce from US$1,152 a week earlier.
Silver rallied to US$16.17 an ounce from US$15.50.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum grew to US$1,129 an ounce from US$1,115. Palladium fell to US$778 an ounce from US$791.
BASE METALS: Base or industrial metals came under pressure from a rallying dollar, before winning support as the US unit lost some of its gains.
By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months rose to US$5,945 a tonne from US$5,837 a week earlier.
Three-month aluminum rose to US$1,784 per tonne from US$1,754.50, while three-month lead dropped to US$1,752 a tonne from US$1,790.50.
Three month zinc edged higher to US$2,023.50 a tonne from US$2,011.50, while three-month tin slid to US$17,150 a tonne from US$17,425 and three-month nickel retreated to US$13,035 a tonne from US$13,880.
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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