Commodities: Chinese house price data stokes gains in metals amid US dollar weakness

One of the most closely-followed gauges of commodity prices extended a bounce from roughly three-month lows, amid supportive data out of China and a weaker US dollar.

As of 2002 GMT, the Bloomberg commodity index was 0.50% higher at 84.47, alongside a small pull-back of 0.25% in the US dollar spot index to 93.790.

According to Bloomberg, in November home prices in China's smaller or so-called 'third-tier' cities advanced at a 0.46% clip month-on-month, marking a second month of acceleration despote Beijing's efforts to rein in property price gains.

That saw iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange jump by 5.5%, while the spot price for 62% iron ore in Qingdao rising by 3.5% and steel rebar futures in Shanghai trading up by 1.3%.

LME-traded three month futures on most base metals, outside of zinc, also ended the day higher, with that for copper closing at $6,901 per metric tonne, against $6,899 at the opening bell.

Energy futures were also mostly higher, bar West Texas Intermediate, although news of a decline in the latest tally of US oil rigs in operation was more than offset by reports that a strike by oil-workers in Nigeria had been called off.

That saw January 2018 WTI drop back by 0.26% to $57.15 a barrel on NYMEX even as similarly-dated Brent pushed higher.

On 15 December, consultancy Baker Hughes had reported a reduction of four in the US oil rig count to 747.

NYMEX natural gas futures on the other hand shot higher, rocketing 4.90% to $2.74/MMBtu, but remained near their year-to-date lows reached at the end of February.

In the precious metals space, February gold on COMEX was up by 0.54% to $1,264.30/oz.

Agricultural commodities meanwhile were generally lower, although ICE traded cocoa was also bouncing higher, adding 2.40% to $1,922 per metric tonne.