Weekly Round-Up: Gold Down, but Silver and Copper Up

Gold gained 0.8 percent on Friday to hit to $1,204.06 an ounce, but the improvement wasn’t enough to offset the losses it suffered earlier in the week, Reuters reported.

As a result, the yellow metal suffered its first weekly loss in over a month. The decline followed renewed investor anticipation of a US Federal Reserve interest rate hike in 2015.

“Looking at the slightly longer-term chart, (prices are) still heading for a weekly fall … (after) what we heard at the FOMC meeting, very much keeping the door open to a June rate rise,” said Jonathan Butler, a strategist at Mitsubishi (TSE:8058).

Friday saw the silver price increase 2.6 percent, to $16.52 an ounce, but the metal could suffer if interest rates rise. Investors shun safe-haven commodities when interest rates are high because the assets don’t pay interest.

Meanwhile, the price of LME copper rose 1 percent, to $6,053.50 a tonne, as possible supply issues caused investors to look past weaker-than-usual demand from China, the world’s largest copper consumer, according to Reuters. Specifically, Investing.com notes that those in the space believe that lowered mine output forecasts from Chile, the world’s biggest copper exporter, could dramatically affect supply.

COMEX copper climbed 1.37 percent to reach $2.77 a pound.

Finally, on Thursday, MarketWatch reported that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of Iran, has indicated that his country will not agree to a nuclear deal unless the US and others lift all sanctions against Iran. That drove the Brent crude price up 1.7 percent, to $57.58 a barrel, because it makes a swift agreement regarding Iranian nuclear weapons unlikely. A successful deal could result in Iran adding 800,000 barrels of oil to the already oversupplied world market.

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