Oil and gold sold off last week, but industrial metals led by copper, ended up with surprise gains, even though the August trade data from China was weak.
Investors were more influenced by Glencore’s move to cut production at its central African copper mines than by the lack of any growth in China’s imports in August.
As a result, Comex December copper futures ended the week at $US2.454 a pound, up less than a cent on Friday, but more than 6% for the week.
Copper rose for five days last week, the longest rally since mid-year.
But it was a different story for gold and oil which both fell on Friday and over the week.
US oil futures fell back under $US45 a barrel on Friday night, suffering a weekly decline of about 3%, after Goldman Sachs cut its price forecasts and warned that the surplus of crude supplies may push prices near $US20 a barrel.
But the market ignored an International Energy Agency forecast of a larger than expected fall in production next year, and expectations of a larger rise in demand in 2016.
Prices were also pushed lower by news that Saudi Arabia won’t back holding an emergency Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ meeting to try and halt the fall in oil prices.
But pushing against that was the weekly report on oil rig use from Baker Hughes which showed a sharp fall in the number of oil rigs drilling for oil across America, especially some specialised fracking rigs.
Baker Hughes said that the number of active US oil-drilling rigs fell 10 to 652 as of last Friday. Some of those were the horizontal type of rig used to drill and frack tight shale formations.
As a result, October West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost $US1.29, or 2.8%, to settle at $US44.63 a barrel in New York, for a weekly fall of 3.1%.
In London Brent crude futures shed 75 cents, or 1.5%, to $US48.14 a barrel, leaving it down 3% for the week.
Comex gold futures settled fell on Friday for a third straight week of losses as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on rates this week.
Gold futures for December delivery lost $US6, or 0.5%, to settle at $US1,103.30 an ounce on Comex, for a weekly loss of 1.6%.
Gold prices fell around 1.1% last week and 2.2% the week before that.
Among other metals, December silver lost 14 cents, or 1%, to $14.505 an ounce, for a weekly loss of 0.3%.
