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Gold is headed for its third week of losses despite rising on Friday. Copper and oil are also down, though silver managed to post a 0.3-percent gain Friday morning.
On Friday morning, gold rose 0.8 percent, to $1,191 per ounce, according to Reuters, but it’s still on its way to a third consecutive week of losses. Chinese and Japanese markets were closed, which limited liquidity.
Meanwhile, US gold futures for February delivery rose 0.6 percent, hitting $1,191.20.
Looking back at 2014, Ole Hansen, senior manager at Saxo Bank, told the news outlet, “[a]n almost unchanged gold price in 2014 was quite impressive considering that we had a 12 percent rise in the dollar during the same time.” However, he added, “as long as we continue to see expectations for a rising dollar, investors will not start to suddenly look at gold as an investment opportunity.”
Similar to gold, on Friday silver rose 0.3 percent, to $15.68 an ounce, Reuters said.
On the flip side, copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.8 percent to trade at $6,245 per tonne; that’s near the multi-year low it hit last week. Copper on New York’s COMEX fell 0.83 percent, or $0.02, to trade at $2.802 per pound.
Even so, analysts believe the picture could improve. “I am still expecting global real GDP growth of around 3.5 percent in 2015, Chinese growth just a touch above 7 percent and U.S. growth should improve,” Thomas Lam, chief economist at DMB & Partners Securities in Singapore, is quoted as saying in another Reuters article. “If you buy into this global growth story, which translates into demand still being pretty moderate and not falling off the cliff, you should see prices gradually getting some support.”
Finally, Bloomberg reported that oil hit its lowest price since May 2009 on increasing supply from Russia and Iraq and emerging manufacturing slowdowns worldwide. Specifically, Brent crude for February settlement fell $0.88, or 1.5 percent, to trade at $56.45 a barrel. That marks the commodity’s sixth week of losses.
Related reading:
Gold Outlook 2015: Analysts Anticipate a Break from Turmoil
Silver Outlook 2015: Price May Improve by Year End
Copper Outlook 2015: More of the Same in Store
Oil Outlook 2015: Rising Demand and Heavy Production to Compete