Commodity prices were mixed this week in volatile trading as markets tracked a worsening economic outlook and rising expectations that Greece faced a default on its debt.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold’s record-breaking run upward was halted by a stronger US dollar, which made the metal more expensive for buyers holding euros — denting investor demand.
“Although prices might first encounter a soft patch, gold could rally through the US$2,000 mark by year-end,” GFMS said in its Gold Survey 2011. It said it expected this “to mainly arise through further growth in investment.”
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold fell to US$1,794 an ounce, from US$1,851 the previous week.
Silver dropped to US$39.97 an ounce from US$41.40.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum retreated to US$1,798 an ounce from US$1,842.
OIL: Crude futures rose during a trading week dominated by a weak outlook for energy demand amid slowing economic growth.
“The global economic situation has also dampened oil demand growth,” analysts at research group JBC Energy said in a market note on Friday.
By late Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November stood at US$113.43 a barrel, compared with US$112.19 for the October contract a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or light sweet crude for October, rose to US$88.11 a barrel from US$86.66 a week earlier.
BASE METALS: Prices of base metals diverged.
On Friday on the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper for delivery in three months fell to US$8,793 a tonne from US$8,883 the previous week.
Three-month aluminium rose to US$2,381 a tonne from US$2,375.
Three-month lead dropped to US$2,404 a tonne from US$2,443.
Three-month nickel advanced to US$21,700 a tonne from US$21,450.
COCOA: New York prices hit the lowest levels this year, striking US$2,776 a tonne, owing to high stockpiles in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
By Friday on LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, cocoa for delivery in December fell to ￡1,813 a tonne from ￡1,862 the previous week.
SUGAR: Sugar retreated on expectations that this year’s to next year’s season would see the first major surplus in three years.
Friday on NYBOT-ICE, the price of unrefined sugar for delivery next month slipped to US$0.29 a pound from US$0.291 the previous week.
On LIFFE, the price of a tonne of white sugar for December stood at ￡708 compared with ￡767 for the October contract the previous week.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
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US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
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