Gold jumped to a seven-week high after a report showed that the US economy added fewer jobs than forecast, easing concerns that the US Federal Reserve will soon pare back stimulus. Nickel and aluminum led gains in most base metals.
Data on Friday showed that the US non-farm payrolls increased 235,000 last month, the smallest gain in seven months and well below economists’ forecasts.
The US dollar fell after the report, boosting demand the appeal of metals for investors holding other currencies.
Bullion has struggled this year amid a global economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has raised the prospect of central banks reining in massive monetary stimulus.
Spot gold on Friday rose 1.1 percent to US$1,829.09 an ounce in New York, after touching US$1,834.04, the highest since July 15. The precious metal gained 0.9 percent this week.
Silver jumped as much as 4 percent on Friday. Platinum and palladium also climbed.
In base metals, aluminum added 1.3 percent to US$2,730 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, posting a second weekly gain. The metal climbed to a 10-year high this week as Chinese supply was constrained by an electricity savings drive.
Copper rose 0.7 percent in London and nickel climbed 2.1 percent. Tin and lead dropped.
RHODIUM
The rise of rhodium, the world’s most expensive precious metal, has made it the No. 1 revenue stream of the biggest platinum miners.
While the metal is well shy of its March peak, rhodium still accounted for 45 percent of Anglo American Platinum Ltd’s first-half revenues. That is more than platinum and palladium put together.
For parent Anglo American PLC, the metal generated more revenue than the diamonds mined by its De Beers business or the copper it extracts in Chile and Peru.
The scarcity of rhodium — a byproduct of platinum and palladium mining — and its unparalleled ability to curb nitrogen oxides from vehicle exhaust fumes pushed up prices as stricter pollution laws boost demand.
In March, it climbed to a record US$29,800 an ounce, making it 17 times more valuable than gold. Originally used for decoration or as corrosion-resistant coating, rhodium has also become the biggest export for South Africa, which produces more than 80 percent of global supply.
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
RSS