Weekly Round-Up: Commodities Up Across the Board

On Friday morning, spot gold rose 1.2 percent, to $1,276.41 per ounce, close to its highest level since September. Meanwhile, US gold futures for February delivery rose 1 percent, to $1,276.90.

The metal is on its way to its biggest weekly gain in 17 months because investors are looking to precious metals as an escape from volatility. That’s in part the result of Switzerland abandoning a cap on the franc on Thursday. The metal’s rise also comes regardless of a rise in the dollar, which would normally depress gold prices.

“The SNB announcement has added a bit of an extra juice to the gold story but from an interest rates and equity perspective it looks like there is a more solid foundation to its strength,” Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) analyst Michael Lewis told Reuters.

For its part, silver rose 3.6 percent on Friday to hit $17.51 per ounce, its highest level since October 22, while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.8 percent to trade at $5,685 per tonne, Reuters said. That marks copper’s second day of gains, but unfortunately the red metal is headed toward a weekly loss not seen since 2011. Currently, the metal is finding support in news that China’s central bank will increase its re-lending quota.

“Infrastructure projects have been fast-tracked in China and there are other positive comments coming out of there as well, which has helped (lift copper),” Societe Generale (EPA:GLE) analyst Robin Bhar told Reuters. “The falls on Wednesday were clearly overdone and not related to fundamentals.”

Copper for March delivery on New York’s COMEX rose 0.4 percent, to $2.568 a pound, according to Bloomberg.

Finally, Brent crude futures for March rose $2.49, to $50.16 per barrel, Reuters reported, later falling to $49.70 per barrel. This development came after the International Energy Agency predicted the market sell off will soon end as lower prices are depressing production in some places.

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