Commodity Blog

Posts Tagged ‘unemployment claims’

Gold rose today, but erased its gains as news was good both from the United States and Europe, reducing demand for safer assets. In Europe, Greek politicians reached an agreement about measures needed to get the next portion of bailout, reducing fears that the debt crisis will escalate. In the USA, unemployment claims fell from 373,000 to 358,000, more than analysts predicted.

Gold was rallying through whole January, but hit resistance in February. The precious metal was trading sideways for several sessions, moving in a range of about $1,713 to 1,760 per ounce. Development of the situation in Europe will likely be crucial for performance of the metal in a short term. For now, Europe looks a little better than was though previously, but the perception of the situation in the eurozone may change anytime.

Gold spot price climbed from $1,731.40 to $1,746.80, but retreated and traded near $1,732.70 as of 23:42 GMT today on COMEX.

Soybeans and rubber declined today as macroeconomic data from the United States showed decreasing number of new home sales and increasing number of unemployment claims. Claims for unemployment benefits rose from 356,000 to 377,000 last week. New homes sales were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 307,000 in December, compared to the median forecast of 321,000 and the November value of 314,000.

Yesterday, soybeans advanced as the pledge of the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rate record low till 2014 was supporting commodities. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 commodities added 1.5 percent yesterday.

Futures for delivery of rubber in July went down to 316.4 yen per kilogram ($4,087 per metric ton) before trading at 317.3 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. Soybeans fell from $12.2175 to $12.1825 per bushel as of 6:31 GMT on CBoT after reaching the highest price since January 3 of $12.3500 yesterday.

Crude oil rallied, while gold fell today as the fundamental data from the United States confirmed that the economic recovery gains momentum.

The US gross domestic product expanded 1.8 percent in the third quarter. The jobless claims went down from 368,000 to 364,000 last week. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose from 64.1 to 69.9 in December. The leading index advanced 0.5 percent in November.

Oil also gained as the report showed that the US inventories shrank by 10.6 million barrels to 323.6 million barrels last week.

February futures for gained as much as $1.14 to $99.81 per barrel by 12:19 on NYMEX. Brent crude oil advanced from $107.92 to $108.21 per barrel today as of 17:48 GMT on ICE, following the earlier drop to $107.29. Gold retreated from $1,608.80 to $1,604.00 on COMEX.

Crude oil today gained 1 percent, retreated 0.8 percent and later fluctuated. Crude gained as US reserves declined by 4.0 million barrels to 353.1 million last week, while analysts predicted a decline by 1.9 million. Oil lost its gains on speculation that the global economic growth is faltering. October contract for delivery of crude oil fell $0.07 to $89.27 per barrel by 12:13 on NYMEX, while today’s price range was from $88.59 to $90.23.

The same concerns that hurt oil boosted gold. Worries about economic recovery intensified after US jobless claim climbed from 412,000 to 414,000 last, while they were expected to go down to 407,000. Today’s speech of European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, after the central bank kept the target interest rate unchanged at 1.5 percent, were rather pessimistic and spurred the speculation the ECB is going to cut borrowing costs in the near future. Futures for delivery of gold in December rose $39.90 (2.2 percent) to $1,857.50 as of 14:18 on COMEX. The problems in Europe allowed the precious metal to advance 31 percent in 2011.

Gold rebounded today as global equities slumped. Earlier, the precious metal was heading to the biggest drop since 2008.

European regulators extended the temporal ban on short selling, driving stocks down and bolstering demand for precious metals. The MSCI World Index of stocks fell 1.4 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 1.8 percent. Rising unemployment claims in the US and falling consumer confidence in Germany also benefited gold.

December futures for delivery of gold added $5.50 (0.3 percent) to $1,762.80 per ounce as of 13:25 on COMEX. Earlier, the metal dropped as much as 3 percent to $1,705.40 and was heading to the biggest decline in three days since October 2008.

Crude dropped after the International Energy Agency announced that it’s going to release the strategic reserves and on the speculation that demand from the US, the biggest user, will decline. The agency stated that it” release 2 million barrels per day for 30 days, starting next week. The prospect of increasing output from Saudi Arabia also contributed to the decline of crude.

The signs of slower economic growth in the US suggest about potential decline of demand for fuel. The jobless claims rose from 326,000 to 319,000 last week. The Federal Reserve decreased its growth forecast for this year to 2.7—2.9 percent this year, compared to April’s forecasts of 3.1—3.3 percent growth.

August contract for crude oil delivery fell by $4.30 to $91.11 per barrel in electronic trading on NYMEX. August Brent crude slipped $4.40 (3.9 percent) to $109.81 per barrel on ICE.

Crude oil fell as the economic reports showed the US economic recovery stalled. The US gross domestic product grew 1.8 percent in the first quarter of this year, while traders anticipated a 2.2 percent growth. The jobless claims posted an increase from 414,000 to 424,000 instead of expected drop to 403,000.

US inventories of crude grew by 600,000 barrels to 370.9 million barrels last week.

Oil tends to gain while economy improves as growing economy means rising demand. Conversely, slowing economy erases demand. Therefore, the problems in Europe and the US macroeconomic data are negative for crude, showing that the global economy isn’t as healthy, as it was thought.

July contract for crude oil delivery fell $0.15 to $100.08 per barrel in electronic trading on NYMEX. July futures for Brent crude oil gained $0.12 (0.1 percent) to $115.05 per barrel yesterday on ICE.

Oil was slowly recovering today after yesterday it posted the biggest drop in two years. Oil’s relative strength index dropped to 32, the lowest level since August 24. The index still remains above 30, suggesting that the commodity has potential to gain.

Oil quickly dropped below $100 as decline of other commodities indicates that the global recovery is probably slowing. One of the sources of concern is the labor market of the US as unemployment claims unexpectedly increased from 431,000 to 474,000 last week and the nonfarm payrolls today are predicted to show slower growth of employment.

June contract for crude oil delivery rose $1.08 to $100.88 per barrel in electronic trading on NYMEX. Yesterday prices dropped $9.44 to $99.80, the lowest since March 16 and the biggest decline since April 20, 2009. June futures for Brent crude delivery gained $1.71 (1.5 percent) to $112.51 per barrel on ICE, following the yesterday’s slump by $10.39 (8.6 percent) to $110.80.

The signs of the economic recovery in the US boosted crude oil and weakened gold. The non-farm payrolls showed that the US employers added 216,000 in March. The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 8.8 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 percent to 12,376.72, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.5 percent to 1,332.41.

The improving economy promises more demand for fuel, which is good for crude, and at the same time decreases demand for safer assets, including gold. Oil is also helped by concerns about supply as the government forces in Libya threw back the rebels, signaling that the conflict won’t end soon.

May delivery for crude oil gained $1.22 to $107.94 per barrel on NYMEX, the highest price since September 25, 2008. Crude has risen 2.4 percent over the week and 27 percent from a year ago. May delivery for Gasoline advanced $0.0436 (1.4 percent) to $3.1513 per gallon, the highest level since July 21, 2008. June futures for gold delivery fell $11 (0.8 percent) to $1,428.90.

Copper declined to the lowest level in three months as imports in China fell and on the speculation that the global demand may weaken. China’s imports of copper and related products went down in February 35 percent from a month earlier to the lowest level in more than two years. May futures for copper delivery retreated $0.0435 (1 percent) to $4.169 per pound at 10:18 on COMEX.

Gold fell today as the high prices prompted the sell-off by investors. The precious metal, which rose earlier on the surging fuel prices, also declined as oil weakened. April futures for gold delivery slipped $23 (1.6 percent) to $1,406.60 by 10:51 on COMEX.

Oil dropped today to the lowest level in almost four months on concern that the global economic growth is slowing. Initial unemployment claims in the US increased from 371,000 to 397,000 last week. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Spain’s credit rating to Aa2. April delivery for crude oil fell as much as $3.33 (3.2 percent) to $101.05 per barrel as of 10:53 on NYMEX.