Weekly Round-Up: Copper, Oil the Bright Spots in the Market
Gold and silver trended downward on Friday, with the yellow metal experiencing a third week of losses overall. However, copper and Brent crude were up.
On Friday, the spot gold price slid 1.2 percent, to $1,179.41 per ounce, as world stocks climbed to record-setting highs, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, US gold futures for June delivery were at $1,178.60.
Ole Hansen, an analyst at Saxo Bank, noted, “[t]he stock market remains well behaved, and while that continues, the demand [for gold] is just not strong enough.”
The gold price was also battered this past week by positive US housing data and has now seen its third straight week of losses. Overall, its weak performance represents a widespread push away from metals as investors aim to benefit from an expected US Federal Reserve interest rate hike. Commodities don’t pay interest, and are less valuable than stocks when rates climb.
Moving forward, the precious metal’s prospects will be tightly linked to the US Federal Reserve policy meeting taking place next week.
For its part, silver followed gold down and dipped 1.1 percent to reach $15.69 an ounce.
The news was better for copper on the LME, which rose 1.8 percent to $6,044 a tonne, as per Reuters. Similarly, MarketWatch reported that copper on the COMEX gained 1.8 percent to hit $2.743 a pound. Low Chinese demand for the metal hurt the copper price early in the year, but unforeseen supply constraints have the potential to drive it up through the remainder of 2015.
“Mine output is going to disappoint significantly for 2015 (and) prices will go up over next 6-12 months,” said Nic Brown, head of commodities research for Natixis (EPA:KN), to Reuters.
Global oil supply still exceeds demand, but a weaker dollar, military conflict in Yemen and strong stock performances pushed the Brent crude price upward on Friday. Reuters said that Brent crude was trading at $65.80 a barrel, its highest level since December 2014.
Despite oil’s strong recent performance, the supply glut could drive its price down in the coming months.
Related reading:
Weekly Round-Up: Gold Ends Week Up Despite US Inflation Data
Weekly Round-Up: Gold Down, but Silver and Copper Up
Weekly Round-Up: Gold Enjoys Biggest Single-day Rally Since January
MARKETS
COMMODITIES
Commodities | |||
---|---|---|---|
Gold | 1801.89 | +0.36 | |
Silver | 20.82 | +0.02 | |
Copper | 3.68 | -0.03 | |
Palladium | 2224.19 | +14.20 | |
Platinum | 965.47 | +2.48 | |
Oil | 91.88 | -2.46 | |
Heating Oil | 3.51 | +0.03 | |
Natural Gas | 8.78 | -0.09 |
DOWNLOAD FREE REPORTS
BROWSE COMPANIES BY SECTOR
- Agriculture Investing
- Phosphate Investing
- Potash Investing
- Base Metals Investing
- Copper Investing
- Iron Investing
- Lead Investing
- Nickel Investing
- Zinc Investing
- Battery Metals Investing
- Cobalt Investing
- Graphite Investing
- Lithium Investing
- Manganese Investing
- Vanadium Investing
- Critical Metals Investing
- Magnesium Investing
- Rare Earth Investing
- Scandium Investing
- Tantalum Investing
- Tellurium Investing
- Tungsten Investing
- Energy Investing
- Oil and Gas Investing
- Uranium Investing
- Gem Investing
- Diamond Investing
- Industrial Metals Investing
- Aluminum Investing
- Chromium Investing
- Coal Investing
- Molybdenum Investing
- Tin Investing
- Precious Metals Investing
- Gold Investing
- Palladium Investing
- Platinum Investing
- Silver Investing
- 3D Printing Investing
- Bitcoin Investing
- Blockchain Investing
- Cleantech Investing
- Cloud Investing
- Cryptocurrencies
- Data Investing
- Emerging Tech Investing
- Artificial Intelligence Investing
- Mobile Investing
- Robotics Investing
- Fintech Investing
- Gaming Investing
- Esports Investing
- Nanoscience Investing
- Graphene Investing
- Nanotech Investing
- Security Investing
Featured Resource Investing News Stocks
Investing News Network websites or approved third-party tools use cookies. Please refer to the cookie policy for collected data, privacy and GDPR compliance. By continuing to browse the site, you agree to our use of cookies.