Market Pulse - Commodities
Saudi Arabia holds key to extension of oil output cut deal, Russia says
Russia's envoy to the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries said a deal to curb oil output might be extended past June.
Faroe Petroleum bumps up full-year 2017 production guidance
Norway and UK-focused Faroe Petroleum reported a large rise in full-year 2016 production amid a ramp-up in exploration, while bumping its guidance for 2017.
Enquest says Kraken running on schedule and under budget
Enquest said the development of the Kraken field was continuing to run on schedule and under budget, while reiterating previous guidance for full-year 2017 production of between 45,000 and 51,000 barrels per day.
Shell commits to drilling new wells to maintain Australian gas supplies
Royal Dutch Shell announced it would drill over a hundred new wells in Australia over the next two years in response to warnings of looming supply shortages as well as blackouts and brownouts in the east of the country in the past year.
Commodities: Crude firmly lower amid unease about Opec's price-control abilities
Crude-oil futures are firmly down Monday afternoon with markets increasingly uneasy about cartel Opec's ability to control prices amid a global supply glut and US shale output.
Chile GDP falls more sharply than expected in Q4 amid investment slump
Chile's economy fell into a funk at the end of 2016 as investment plummeted, with weakness set to spill over into 2017, although economists sounded a more positive note on the backhalf of this year.
Goldman Sachs upgrades Glencore on exposure to copper and zinc
Goldman Sachs has upgraded Glencore to ‘buy’ due to its favourable commodity exposure, although it expects the sector to remain choppy due to more negative investor sentiment.
Commodities: Metals, crude trade sideways with gold facing resistance around $1231/oz
Commodities futures traded broadly sideways with mildly positive biases on Friday, as gold struggled to bust through resistance at the $1,231 per ounce level after its Federal Reserve rate hike-inspired dash higher on Thursday.
Sierra Leone pastor discovers 13th largest diamond ever for Stellar Diamonds
Shares rose in Stellar Diamonds on Friday after the miner announced that a church minister had discovered a 709 carat diamond in Sierra Leone, which it claims is the 13th largest ever found.
Brent futures dip even as Saudi says open to doing whatever it takes
In remarks to Bloomberg TV, saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih indicated his country might be open to extending a deal among many of the world's top producers to restrain their combined output past June.
Commodities: Gold, precious metals get Fed-inspired boost as crude consolidates
Precious-metals futures enjoyed a hearty uptick on Thursday in the aftermath of the US Federal Reserve lifting interest rates, while Bank of England stood pat as anticipated.
US Treasuries rally hard even as Fed hikes rates
The US central bank tightened policy but left its so-called 'dot-plot' graph largely unchanged, triggering a sharp rally in government bond markets.
Sector movers: Miners pace gains on positive analyst chatter
Steel-makers and miners were at the forefront of market gains with some traders referencing positive data on Chinese fixed asset investment the previous day as the catalyst.
US oil imports, product stockpiles fall in latest week
US crude oil inventories slipped during the latest reference week as imports fell back, government data revealed.
Commodities: Crude rises as US stores fall, with gold under Fed rate-hike pressure
Crude-oil futures bucked higher on Wednesday and off three-month lows on news of a surprise draw in US stores of the black liquid, while gold bears priced the yellow metal lower ahead of the US Federal Reserve's expected interest-rate lift this evening.
Rising US oil stockpiles trigerred drop in Brent futures, IEA says
The recent drop in crude futures is mainly the result of a renewed build-up in US oil stockpiles amid a relentless ramp-up in OPEC's production in the run-up to its November output cut deal which was still feeding through the system, the rich world's energy watchdog said.
Brent futures slip as Saudi Arabia raises oil production
Crude oil futures slipped again after the world's largest oil producer said it had increased output.
Commodities: Crude slip-slides lower as Saudi busts Opec production cap
Both grades of crude-oil futures dived on Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate slip-sliding through key support as major oil producer Saudi Arabia revealed it has pumped more in February.
Comment: OPEC is toast, oil can drop further
- By Jasper Lawler, Senior Market Analyst at LCG-.
Wood Group's purchase of AMEC addresses low gearing, UBS says
The rationale for Wood Group's bid for AMEC Foster Wheeler lay in its low gearing and narrow business focus, analysts at UBS said.