Weekly Round-Up: Copper Set for Biggest Weekly Rise Since October

The gold price ended last week below $1,100 per ounce, but this week was back above that level once again. It rose as high as $1,106.20 on Wednesday, and since then has bobbed above and below the $1,100 mark — as of 12:00 p.m. EST on Friday it was changing hands at $1,098.80. 
Commenting on this activity in the gold space, Kitco states that Friday has brought fewer safe-haven buyers into the market. A firmer US dollar index “is also limiting the upside in the precious metals markets.”
Unfortunately for gold bugs, many market watchers don’t believe gold has reached the end of its troubles — this week, a number of firms released updated gold price forecasts, and for the most part they are not overly optimistic.
For instance, ICBC Standard Bank said in a note this week that it sees the precious metal averaging $1,060 this year, down from its previous forecast. Meanwhile, BNP Paribas (EPA:BNP) said in its own note that it sees gold averaging just $960 in 2016 — also a reduction from its previous call.

On a more positive note, Citi Research recently upped its 2016 average gold price forecast to $1,070. “Gold’s safe-haven rationale is back in vogue for the time being on fears of further China macro contagion, whipsaw equity markets and geopolitical issues in the form of rising Arabian Gulf tensions,” said the firm. Nevertheless, it is advising wariness about the US dollar.
For its part, the silver price fared much the same this week as it did last week. The white metal’s high for the week came Friday when it hit $14.30 per ounce, and its low of $13.88 came on Monday.
Commenting on the silver price, DailyFX market analyst Alejandro Zambrano said Thursday that the metal is “trapped in [its] familiar $13.61 to $14.40 range, and there is little reason to trade unless specifically targeting this range.”
On the base metals side, Bloomberg said Friday that copper is set for its biggest weekly rise since October, driven upward by “speculation central banks will do more to counter market turmoil around the world.” The news outlet states that LME copper for three-month delivery was sitting at $4,462 per MT on Friday morning, up 3 percent for the week.
Finally, oil prices saw some much-needed improvement on Friday, with US crude oil jumping 6.5 percent to reach $31.44 per barrel; Brent crude also saw gains. However, investors shouldn’t necessarily expect those improvements to last.
“These days are relief bounces,” Michael Antonelli, an equity trader at Baird, told The Wall Street Journal. “You would need a whole lot of days of crude oil stabilizing and a whole lot of days for the market stabilizing to feel better about where things are going.”

 
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. 
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