Weekly Round-Up: Commodities Lose Steam After Mid-Week Boost From Fed

Commodity prices this week revolved around the US Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting and later its announcement regarding the monetary stimulus program.

News that the Fed wouldn’t taper the program as much as expected caused gold prices to jump Sept. 18 to $1,346 an ounce — a rebound of about $45 from a six-week low hit earlier in the session, Reuters reported.

Two days later, on Sept. 20, gold ran out of steam, falling by $10.83 to $1,353.21 from the previous session. On Sept. 19, gold reached a one-week high of $1,374.54.

Gold futures for December delivery were also down today $15.70 to $1,353.60 an ounce.

Silver prices also traded lower today compared to the previous session. Silver hit $22.57 an ounce, a drop of $0.43, Reuters said. The world’s biggest silver exchange-traded fund saw its largest one-day increase Sept. 19 in its holdings since late July, with inflows of nearly 105 tonnes.

Copper prices were also down today, with benchmark prices on the London Metal Exchange falling $5.50 to $7,329.50 a tonne from the previous session. Earlier today, however, copper reached a high of $7,357 a tonne. Since the Fed made its announcement Sept. 18, the metal has rallied as much as 4 percent. Yet, like gold and silver, copper lost steam today.

Brent crude oil prices for November, however, were up $0.73 today to $109.49 a barrel, according to Reuters. This increase comes after crude had fallen more than 3 percent this week and looked as if it was headed for its largest weekly fall since mid-June. Yet, Brent crude prices for October were down $0.31 to $106.08. Brent crude prices were impacted by easing tensions with Syria and Iran, as well as the Fed’s announcement on its stimulus program.