Commodities

Oil prices could touch highs last seen in April when the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) convenes its next meeting in Vienna on 25th of May, WisdomTree’s Nizam Hamid has said. Volatility has dominated the commodity in recent weeks, with the latest statistics from the US shale industry… Read More »

Expansion of natural gas production in the US at a time when output of other fuels is also expected to increase will mean that the US will become more reliant on exports End of gas as a transition fuel?In 2014 President Obama labelled natural gas a “bridge fuel” to help… Read More »

Expectations around the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) March 15 rate announcement were the principal drivers of the gold market in March. U.S. economic statistics have been somewhat positive recently, leading the market to expect the Fed to become more hawkish and to perhaps even guide for four rate increases in 2017… Read More »

Stronger economic growth in developed and developing markets is increasing demand at a time when supply is constrained. Commodities have had a mixed start to 2017. The Bloomberg Commodities Index is down 2.5% year-to-date (to 31 March 2017), after a substantial drop in the oil price in March pared back… Read More »

Oil prices are unlikely to rebound significantly from current levels, with a glut of supply and increasingly advanced methods of extraction set to keep the commodity’s price lower for longer. Oil has fallen sharply in the last month, with the price of Brent crude retreating more than 10% from 56… Read More »

An investor in commodities using futures contracts is not only exposed to the price of the raw material but also to the cost of holding a futures contract and rolling it from one contract to another. The mechanism of contango and backwardation continues to intrigue. While contango is known to… Read More »

Gold prices were up 8.6% in Q1 2017, and now seem to be consolidating in the USD 1200-1250 range. As expected, the US central bank raised interest rates by 25 bps at its March FOMC meeting, confident in the strength of the employment market, with the workforce nearly fully employed,… Read More »

Oil prices rallied to a one-month high as expectations increased ahead of EIA inventories reports. There are clear signs that U.S inventories have fallen from record high levels. WTI crude today has reached $51.50 in early European trading on tightening supplies speculation. Improving US consumer health has seen a deeper… Read More »

Silver demand for solar panels is a growing segment of its industrial demand with record levels expected in 2018. Global silver demand for solar set to riseSilver’s unique reflective and conductive properties make it a key component in capturing and generating electricity through sunlight. The fastest growing industrial segment for… Read More »

On 28 February, Trump’s address to Congress, even though not offering any specific details on his promised fiscal policies, was well received and pushed the USD and bond yield higher putting pressure on gold. The other negative weighing on the gold price has been the continued hawkish Fed tone with… Read More »