Weekly Round-Up: Geopolitical Factors Continue to Influence Commodities

Today, spot gold rose 0.2 percent, or $2.57, to $1,285.90 per ounce, according to Reuters. The yellow metal is down 1.3 percent for the week. Meanwhile, US gold futures for June delivery rose 0.7 percent, hitting $1,284.20. 

“For gold, the salience of the nonfarm payrolls seems somewhat reduced by the Fed seemingly being on auto pilot with regards to its tapering program,” Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) analyst Matthew Turner told the news outlet. “A bad number, given the GDP data earlier this week, would call into question the strength of the economy, but seems unlikely to change the Fed’s policy.”

Silver is up 0.9 percent, or $0.17, at $19.17, Reuters notes, but it is still heading toward its worst performance in more than a month.

For its part, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3 percent, or $19.99, to trade at $6,662 per tonne, another Reuters article states. Trading volumes are relatively low due to a holiday in China, the world’s top copper consumer.

“To me it looks like the copper market has turned a bit and is looking slightly better supported,” David Wilson, an analyst at Citi, told the publication. “There definitely seems to be an attitude change amongst investors towards copper to the point where we have more people talking about playing copper against aluminum; going long copper, short aluminum.”

Binary Tribune notes that copper futures for July delivery are trading up 0.38 percent, or $0.01, at $3.033 per pound on New York’s COMEX.

Finally, Brent crude for June delivery today rose $0.61, to $108.37 a barrel, as per Reuters. Fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces has escalated, fueling fears of a disruption in energy supply.

“The fact that the Ukrainian army has started to move is creating uncertainty ahead of the weekend,” Reuters quotes Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix as saying.

Related reading: 

Improving US Economy Hinders Gold Price

Frustration Rife After Yet Another Range-bound Week for Silver

China to Surpass US Economy, but Weak Growth Still Weighing on Copper