Commodity markets diverged this week as metals benefitted from better-than-expected US jobs data, while oil futures were hit by easing supply strains.
OIL: Crude futures slid on easing concerns about supply in Iraq and Libya, but losses were capped by evidence of healthy demand in the world’s top oil consumer, the US, traders said.
Crude prices began sliding this week on Wednesday after Interim Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani said authorities had regained control of export terminals blockaded by rebels. Production in the OPEC member has been severely limited for a year after rebels last summer blockaded terminals as part of a campaign to restore autonomy in the country’s eastern region. Its output stands at about a fifth of its normal production.
Concerns over a possible supply disruption due to Iraq’s security crisis have also eased.
Islamist militants have overrun swathes of territory in Iraq in a lightning offensive since June 9, but have so far not yet directly threatened the key oil-producing region in the country’s south.
Crude price losses were capped by a bigger-than-expected drop in US inventories.
The US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday said US commercial crude inventories fell 3.2 million barrels last week, almost twice the amount predicted by analysts.
Meanwhile the US Department of Labor on Thursday said the US economy added 288,000 jobs last month, well above expectations of 215,000, cutting the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent from 6.3 percent in May.
Also supporting prices was China and Japan manufacturing expanding last month.
By Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery next month slid to US$110.87 a barrel from US$113.18 one week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate, or light sweet crude, for next month dropped to US$103.90 a barrel from US$105.55.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold hit three-month highs before losing some of its gains because of the positive US jobs data.
Palladium hit a 13-year high at US$866.85 an ounce on solid demand and strikes in South Africa, where engineering and metals workers rejected a wage hike offer to end the country’s largest-ever strike, firms said on Friday.
By Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,319.25 an ounce from US$1,317.50 a week earlier, as silver hit US$21.12 from US$21.04.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum climbed to US$1,503 an ounce from US$1,479, while palladium rose to US$866 from US$839.
COCOA: Prices steadied amid signs of a healthy crop in Ivory Coast, the world’s top producer.
By Friday on LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, cocoa for delivery in September eased to ￡1,919 a tonne from ￡1,924 a week earlier.
On the ICE Futures US exchange, cocoa for September fell to US$3,100 from US$3,108.
RUBBER: Prices in Kuala Lumpur fell as the ringgit strengthened against the US dollar and due to concerns about demand in top rubber consumer China.
The Malaysian Rubber Board’s benchmark SMR20 dropped to US$0.17435 a kilo from US$0.17865 a week earlier.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
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