The Conversation (0)
Dec. 12, 2014 11:15AM PST
Gold is up 2.4 percent for the week despite seeing a slight drop on Friday — it’s been boosted by a drop in equities. However, Brent crude hit its lowest level since 2009 this past week.
Gold fell slightly on Friday, dropping 0.6 percent, to $1,220.20 per ounce, according to Reuters. Nevertheless, the metal has risen 2.4 percent so far this week, with investors turning to precious metals on the back of dropping stocks.
“When the equity markets dropped quite sharply, precious metals soared, so there is definitely still the link between equities and gold in particular (due to) risk appetite among market players,” Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann told Reuters. “Some of the equity markets had a decent run this year. We don’t expect this to be continued to the same extent next year, so this might give some tailwind to gold prices.”
US gold futures for December delivery fell $4.70, to $1,220.90 per ounce. For its part, silver was static at $17.08 per ounce, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3 percent, to $6,480 per tonne, Reuters states in another article. Data showing factory output in China has slowed has investors hoping that the country will initiate more stimulus measures.
In contrast, copper for March delivery on New York’s COMEX fell 0.02 percent, to $2.921 a pound, as per Investing.com.
Finally, Brent crude oil this week hit a low of $63 per barrel, the lowest its price has been in more than five years. The week’s losses now amount to more than 8 percent, according to Reuters. OPEC cut its demand forecast for next year to its lowest level in more than a decade earlier in the week.
“The recent bout of weakness has been a function of the concerns shifting a little bit more to the demand side now,” Mark Keenan, head of commodities research in Asia for Societe Generale (EPA:GLE), told the news outlet. “There has been perhaps a little bit of neglect of what the demand profile’s going to be like next year.”