The Conversation (0)
It was a good week for metals, with gold climbing to a nine-month high this week. Silver and copper also took strides in an upward direction. Crude, on the other hand, dipped slightly.
Precious metals were up this week due to trouble in Iraq and the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates low, according to Reuters.
Spot gold recorded its biggest one-day gain in nine months yesterday, jumping 3.3 percent. Today, it fell $5.25, or 0.4 percent, to reach $1,314.30 an ounce. Over the course of the week, gold rose by about 3 percent, Reuters notes.
Meanwhile, US gold futures for August delivery increased by $0.60 to reach $1,314.70 an ounce, as per CME Group.
Silver also saw some gains this week, spiking 4 percent Thursday, according to Reuters. Today, the white metal fell by $0.02 to reach $20.68 per ounce. Silver futures for August delivery are currently up $0.02, at $20.69 an ounce, CME Group states.
Likewise, copper futures for August delivery on the COMEX today rose by $0.03, to $3.10 per pound. On the London Metal Exchange, benchmark three-month copper prices rose $46.72 to $6,771.50 a tonne, Reuters said.
“The main takeaway from the Fed this week has been a weaker dollar, which is generally positive for the commodities space,” Vicky Sanders, head of analytics sales at Marex Spectron, is quoted as saying in another Reuters article. “And I note that in Asia the Shanghai copper futures performed very well, with some decent volumes, giving a boost to LME prices.”
While metals saw some gains this week, Brent crude went in the opposite direction. Due to the fighting in Iraq, it fell today by 12 cents, reaching $114.94 per barrel, although that is still a nine-month high, according to The Associated Press. The biggest refinery in Iraq, located in Beiji, has been taken over by militants. The Iraqi government is fighting to regain control, and by late Thursday, the two forces were holding two different sides of the facility.