Commodity Blog

Archive for February 10th, 2010

Coffee slid New York as the stronger dollar curbed demand for commodities as an alternative investment. The greenback gained for the first time this week versus a basket of six major currencies. March futures for Arabica-coffee delivery slid $0.006 (0.5 percent) to $1.298 per pound by 9:51 on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Coffee price may tumble to $1.20 if the dollar rally will continue, yet the coffee may rise with deficit of high quality coffee and in case of dollar decline. The coffee price increased previous year because adverse weather harmed harvests in Brazil and Colombia.

Sugar rose on speculation that farmers in India will not significantly increase planting of cane. A less-than-expected increase in planting area can lead to import of sugar by India, supporting prices. March futures for raw-sugar delivery rose 1.8 percent to $0.2707 per pound on ICE.

Latest commodity prices (ICE, NYMEX, CME) as of 17:57 GMT:

Oil (Brent) — $72.20
Gold — $1,073.60
Silver — $15.26
Palladium — $412.00
Platinum — $1,502.77
Copper — $6,601.00
Aluminum — $2,046.00
Nickel — $17,801.00
Zinc — $2,121.50
Cocoa — $3.010.00
Sugar — $26.78
Corn — $362.00
Soybean — $934.00

This video presents a short-term technical analysis of the spot gold chart based on the Japanese candlestick patterns. The period of the last 15 days is reviewed, marking up the most important daily candles and the support/resistance levels that were formed by these candlesticks. In the end the short-term target for the gold is given. I recommend watching this video if you want to profit from the next few days’ move in gold disregarding your current long-term stance on this commodity.

Gold rose in New York and London after the dollar declined, boosting appeal of precious metals as an inflation hedge. The U.S. Dollar Index dropped 0.9 percent on speculation that European Union officials will agree to assist Greece to tackle its budget deficit. Gold have tendency to gain when greenback falls.

As concern for European woes is decreasing, the demand for gold and other investment assets rebound. China’s passenger-car sales more than doubled in January with government economic stimulus measures. High automobile sales in China helped the prices for precious metals.

April delivery for gold futures gained $15.10 (1.4 percent) to $1,081.30 per ounce by 12:02 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Previous decline was considered as ”a buying opportunity” and have increased bullion purchases.