Oil prices rallied and sugar futures struck 28-year highs this week amid light trading volumes, with markets winding down activities ahead of the Christmas and New Year festive season.
OIL: Oil prices jumped as a larger-than-expected drop in US energy stockpiles led to hopes of rising demand, traders said.
Data released by the US Department of Energy on Wednesday showed stockpiles of crude dropping by 4.9 million barrels to 327.5 million in the week ending Dec. 18, far above analyst expectations of a 1.1 million-barrel drawback.
Distillate inventories also slid 3.1 million barrels last week, against analyst forecasts of a 1.6 million barrel fall.
Data for distillates, which include heating oil, is in focus as winter starts to bite in the US and Europe.
Analysts cautioned however that despite the fall in stockpiles, inventory levels were still high.
“Crude oil stocks are still lingering near the upper end of the five-year range, thus creating doubt in our mind as to the underlying strength of the recent price rally,” MF Global analyst Tom Pawlicki said.
Oil prices have meanwhile risen for much of the week as traders bet on improving demand after OPEC decided against changing the cartel’s official crude output levels.
OPEC, as expected, held its crude output quotas unchanged at its meeting in Angola on Tuesday, warning of lingering weakness in the world economy.
Tuesday’s meeting capped a year of recovery for oil prices, which have more than doubled since the cartel set strict quota cuts in the depths of the economic crisis a year ago.
By Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), light, sweet crude for delivery in February jumped to US$77.02 from US$74.14 the previous Friday.
On London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for February delivery advanced to US$75.63 compared with US$74.50.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold and silver prices steadied, while platinum and palladium rose.
Gold managed to stay above US$1,100 in the wake of recent profit-taking following its run-up to a record high of US$1,226.56 an ounce at the start of the month.
By Thursday on the London Bullion Market, gold stood at US$1,104.50 an ounce, unchanged from the previous Friday.
Silver edged up to US$17.32 an ounce from US$17.31.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum increased to US$1,456 an ounce Thursday from US$1,417 the previous Friday.
Palladium rose to US$377 an ounce from US$365.
BASE METALS: Base metals prices mostly extended recent gains, with zinc and tin enjoying multi-month highs on fund buying.
By Thursday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months jumped to US$7,070 a tonne from US$6,881 a week earlier.
Three-month aluminum fell to US$2,249 a tonne from US$2,256.
Three-month lead dipped to US$2,346 a tonne from US$2,356.
SUGAR: Sugar prices hit a fresh 28-year high on tight supplies, traders said. Unrefined sugar reached US$0.2698 a pound (US$0.5948 per kilogram) on Thursday — the highest point since 1981.
“Tight global supplies remain a supportive influence in sugar, and should limit the downside,” the Public Ledger commodities review said.
By Thursday on the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the price of unrefined sugar for March rose to US$0.2676 a pound from US$0.2627 the previous Friday.
On LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, the price of a tonne of white sugar for delivery in March climbed to £694.50 from £678.20.
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
MAKING PROGRESS: Officials and industry leaders who participated in a defense forum last month agreed that Taiwan has the capabilities to work with the US, the report said Taiwan’s high-tech defense industry is to enhance collaboration with the US to produce weapons needed for self-defense, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the Legislative Yuan. Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) discussed building regional and global industry alliances with US partners at the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Philadelphia held from Sept. 22 to Tuesday last week, the ministry said in the declassified portion of the report. The visit contributed to maintaining bilateral ties, facilitated Taiwan’s efforts to acquire weapons and equipment, and strengthened the resilience of the two nation’s defense industries, it said. Taiwan-US ties
CONCERNS: Allowing the government, political parties or the military to own up to 10 percent of a large media firm is a risk Taiwan cannot afford to take, a lawyer said A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator has proposed amendments to allow the government, political parties and the military to indirectly invest in broadcast media, prompting concerns of potential political interference. Under Article 1 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the government and political parties — as well as foundations established with their endowments, and those commissioned by them — cannot directly or indirectly invest in satellite broadcasting businesses. A similar regulation is in the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法). “The purpose of banning the government, political parties and the military from investing in the media is to prevent them from interfering
FORUM 2000 CONFERENCE: The former president said that Taiwan and the Czech Republic underwent similar journeys to democracy via the sacrifices of predecessors Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to travel to the Czech Republic on Saturday to attend the Forum 2000 Conference, an annual event in Prague, Tsai’s office confirmed yesterday. Local Chinese-language news media yesterday reported that Tsai visited President William Lai (賴清德) at the presidential residence on Sunday, and they discussed diplomacy, national defense, international cooperation, as well as Tsai’s scheduled trip to Europe. A source with knowledge of the issue yesterday said that Lai strongly encouraged and supports Tsai’s visit, and also instructed the National Security Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist her, including having National Security Council adviser
RSS