Commodities generally had a good week with most ending trading on Friday higher – but not oil, even though there was a spurt on Friday over the latest uptick in tensions in the Middle East.
Nickel starred, iron ore remained solid, copper did well, silver kicked higher and while gold fell on Friday, thanks to a stronger US dollar, gold rose over the week and traded above $US1,450 an ounce for the first time in six years on Thursday and repeated that on Friday.
Global iron ore prices ended the week at just over $US121 a tonne. According to the Metal Bulletin’s pricing index, 62% iron ore ended at $US121.79, up 1.5% for the day and $US2.50 a tonne (just over 2%) from the $US119.29 the previous Friday.
In New York Comex August gold trading fell by $US1.40, or 0.1%, to settle at $US1,426.70 an ounce, after touching an intraday high of $US1,454.40.
Friday’s intraday high and Thursday’s settlement were the loftiest for a most-active contract since mid-May 2013.
Gold rose 1% over the week for the biggest gain in a month.
The US dollar was up 0.3% while the 10-year Treasury yields ended around 2.057%. The Aussie dollar ended above 70 US cents for the second week in a row, while the Australian 10-year bond yield edged up to 1.35% (from 1.33%)
Comex silver saw eased nearly a half-cent lower at $US16.195 an ounce on Friday after finishing at its highest level since June 29, 2018, on Thursday.
The gain for the week was a very solid 6.3% and the largest weekly gain since a 10.1% surge at the period ended July 1, 2016, according to FactSet figures
Comex September copper futures ended at $US2.7525 a pound, up 4.3 cents, or 1.6%, for the session and 2.2% higher for the week.
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In London, LME nickel prices fell on Friday as a two-week buying spree which pushed the metal to its highest in more than a year appeared slowed.
Three-month LME copper meanwhile surged to a two-month high as investors on a forecast of a rate cut from the Fed later this month.
Three-month LME nickel ended down 0.7% at $US14,750 a tonne, but still up more than 9% this week. Prices on Thursday touched $US15,115, the highest since June 2018 and up a massive 20% in just two weeks.
Reuters pointed out that headline nickel stocks in LME-registered warehouses, at 147,942 tonnes, have slid from more than 450,000 tonnes in 2016 and are the lowest in 6-1/2 years.
LME copper finished up 1.4% at $US6,065 a tonne after touching $US6,170.50, the highest since May 10. It was up more than 2% for week.
Global oil futures ended higher on Friday, after those reports that Iran has seized 2 U.K.-flagged tankers raised tension around the Strait of Hormuz. and between the US, UK and the US
That was a day after the US claimed it shot down an Iranian drone in the Gulf though Iran denied that incident.
For the week, however, US crude oil prices fell sharply as concerns over a slowdown in demand remained.
In New York, West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery rose 33 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at US$55.63 a barrel.
That saw the price of the most-active August contract, which expires at tonight’s settlement in New York lose 7.6% for the week.
That was the largest weekly percentage loss since the week ended May 31, FactSet data show.
In Europe, Brent crude for September delivery rose 54 cents, or 0.9%, to $US62.47 a barrel on ICE Europe, for a weekly slide of 6.4%.
The International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol told Reuters on Thursday the agency was cutting its 2019 forecast for global oil-demand growth to 1.1 million barrels a day versus its June forecast of 1.2 million barrels a day.
And oil drilling activity in the US continues to slow, as the number of active domestic oil drilling rigs fell for a third consecutive week, down 5 at 779 this week, according to Baker Hughes.
