Market Pulse - Commodities
Commodities: Oil spike tempered in Asian trading, gold takes a pounding
An overnight rise in the price of oil was tempered in Asian trading on Thursday, as gold took a pounding on comments by the US Federal Reserve.
Commodities: Oil markets retreat from previous highs, gold falls
Despite having to contend with a cacophony of news, oil markets began trading in Asia in the red. At 08:09 BST on Wednesday, the Brent front month futures contract was down 34 cents or 0. 53% at $64. 30 per barrel while the WTI was down 40 cents or 0. 70% at $56. 66.
Commodities: Gold down ahead of Fed meeting, oil stable in Asia trading
Gold opened lower in Asia ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee meeting with markets contemplating a US interest rate rise later this year.
Chinese central bank set to ease monetary policy further, copper rises
According to a report from the The Wall Street Journal, citing officials, the Chinese central bank is set to launch further monetary policy easing measures in a bid to ease debt restructurings.
Commodities: Oil and gold up, cotton market strengthens
Crude oil benchmarks were up marginally as speculation over US supply-demand scenarios and an uptick in economic activity across key importing nations lent support to trading in Asia.
Petrobras reports record loss from corruption-linked writedowns
Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras published audited 2014 results overnight that contained its biggest-ever loss of $7. 2bn (£4. 8bn) due to huge costs relating to corruption.
Petrobras delayed results should prevent forced Brazilian debt repayment
Brazilian oil company Petrobras is due to finally deliver its fourth quarter results on Wednesday night, heading off the threat of a forced government debt repayment of around 5% of Brazil's gross domestic product.
Commodities: Chinese farm imports set to almost double over coming decade
US dollar strength on the back of weakness in the single currency, as the situation in Greece continued to simmer, weighed on the commodities complex on Tuesday.
BHP Billiton announces project delay, shares slip
BHP Billiton announced it would postpone some plans to increase iron ore output, which analysts said signalled the first admission by a major producer of the need to curtail excessive supply growth.
Commodities: Morgan Stanley reiterates attractive stance on Energy sector
The decision over the weekend by the People´s Bank of China to cut its reserve requirement ratio for large financial institutional by 100 basis points, twice the usual amount, stoked demand for equities, but failed to ignite buying in industrial metals.
Commodities: Oil futures end lower on risk aversion
Front month West Texas crude futures were dragged lower at the end of last week by the bout of risk aversion which swept through international financial markets after China took measures to cool the country´s stockmarkets.
Commodities market endured a torrid March, Credit Suisse says
The commodities market endured an overwhelmingly bearish March, with energy being the worst performing segment, according to Credit Suisse.
Commodities: Gold and oil steady, as base metals trade higher
Gold was holding firm around $1,200 an ounce, as the yellow metal's dollar connect came under scrutiny again over the uncertainty surrounding a further cut by the US Federal Reserve.
Iron ore slump may put smaller miners out of business, says Goldman Sachs
Slump in the iron ore market has the potential to put small to mid-tier independent mining companies out of business, according to Goldman Sachs.
Commodities: Oil reverts to seasonal high, gold back above $1200
Oil benchmarks reverted to seasonal highs with market concerns about oversupply easing marginally, as US inventories retreated from record highs and data indicated the number of operational rigs in the US was down significantly.
Oil gains as US crude stockpiles rise less than forecast
US oil inventories rose again last week, though the increase was less than the market had expected, pushing crude prices higher on Wednesday afternoon.
Morgan Stanley receives $1bn offer for physical oil trading unit
Investment bank Morgan Stanley has received an offer of just over $1bn for its physical oil trading unit, according to various media reports on Wednesday.
Commodities: Oil climbs, gold and copper slip while soybean market faces oversupply
Oil benchmarks continued to trade steadily in the green for the fourth successive session, on the back of industry forecasts predicting a drop in US shale production and lower rig count data.
Gold sheds over 1% on speculation of US interest rate rise
The price of gold fell by over 1% on Tuesday as a stronger dollar and persistent speculation about a US interest rate rise dragged the shiny precious metal well below the $1,200 an ounce level.
Commodities: Oil sees modest gains, gold back below $1200
Oil markets saw modest movements to the upside while gold slipped back below $1200 an ounce in early Asian trading on Tuesday.