Oil prices sank heavily this week as traders tracked the US dollar and Greek debt concerns, and shrugged off a widely-expected decision from the 12-nation OPEC cartel to maintain crude output levels.
Many other commodities were also dragged lower by stubborn concerns about Greece, and the stronger greenback, which makes dollar-priced raw materials more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies, and therefore hits demand.
“Oil prices were getting their cue from the broader market as persistent concerns over Greece ... with the commodity complex suffering as well,” VTB Capital’s Andrey Kryuchenkov said. “Otherwise, little changed in the world of oil with market participants still digesting the bullish weekly report on US fuel inventories report and OPEC’s decision to keep production levels unchanged on Wednesday.”
OIL: World oil prices took a tumble as a strong US currency dented investor enthusiasm for dollar-priced crude, analysts said.
“It’s the euro sliding against the dollar ... everything is tumbling, so hence we are down in line with the broader market,” Kryuchenkov said.
OPEC meanwhile left its output ceiling at 24.84 million barrels a day at a meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, citing uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment and global oil demand.
The cartel, which pumps 40 percent of world oil, said it would review the economic situation at its next meeting on Oct. 14.
By late on Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Texas light sweet crude for delivery in April plunged to US$80.29 from US$82.42 a week earlier.
On London’s IntercontinentalExchange, Brent North Sea crude for May delivery dived to US$79.66 from US$80.56 for the expired April contract a week earlier.
BASE METALS: Base or industrial metals mostly fell. By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months dipped to US$7,419 a tonne from US$7,480 the previous week.
Three-month aluminum fell to US$2,252 a tonne from US$2,256.
PRECIOUS METALS: The prices of precious metals diverged in subdued trading. By Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold eased to US$1,105 an ounce from US$1,106.25 the previous week.
Silver was unchanged at US$17.31 an ounce.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum edged down to US$1,617 an ounce from US$1,619. Palladium firmed to US$476 an ounce from US$464.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS