Commodities: Precious metals bolstered by US dollar weakness

A second day of gains for the Chinese yuan halted US dollar strength, boosting the prices of most commodities, particularly precious metals.

February 2017 gold futures on COMEX jumped 1.32% to end the session at $1,180.70/oz., although silver futures were only 0.14% ahead to $16.58/oz..

As of 0720 GMT the onshore yuan was trading at 6.8120 against the US dollar and was up by 0.80% against the greenback, its best level since 8 November 2016, as measures by Beijing to rein in foreign exchange purchases by residents in the country began to bite.

Spot platinum on the other hand leapt 3.04% following the release of stronger-than-forecast car sales data published in the UK and the US.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a record 2.69m cars were registered in Britain last year, which was 2.0% more than in 2015.

Figures released during the previous session showed US auto sales running at an annualised clip of 18.4m (consensus: 17.7m).

COMEX copper futures on the other hand were slipping 0.86% to $2.5345 a pound.

Over in the energy patch, West Texas Intermediate was up 0.49% at $53.52 a barrel on NYMEX, while natural gas futures were retreating 1.10% to $3.23/MMBtu.

At the Chicago Board of Trade March 2017 wheat futures found a good bid, pushing prices higher by 1.85% to $4.2625 a bushel.

As of 1841 GMT, the Bloomberg Commodity index was eging higher by 0.20% to 8.35 as the US dollar spot index fell back 1.17% to 101.50.