Commodity prices will be impacted by the French Presidential election first round results today.
Gold did well ahead of yesterday’s poll, adding gains on Friday and pushing futures prices back into the black for the week.
Comex gold for June delivery rose $US5.30, or 0.4%, to settle at $US1,289.10 an ounce in New York early Saturday morning.
That sent prices higher for the week, by less than 0.1%, sharply down on the 2.5% gain the week before.
It was the sixth weekly gain in row for the metal.
Comex May silver fell for most of the session and closed down 16.2 cents, or 0.9%, to $US17.856 an ounce.
That was a loss of about 3.5% lower for the week. Comex May copper lost half a cent to $US2.538 a pound, ending 1.3% lower over the week.
“I think the big rally last week off $1,200 priced in a lot of the current political uncertainties,” Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, told MarketWatch.
“There hasn’t been anything new other than the attack in France to change the political outlook over the last 48 hours and even then, the election result is a toss up.”
Meanwhile oil prices fell sharply on Friday, closing below $US50 a barrel for the first time this month, for a loss of more than 7% for the week.
The continuing rise in US crude output more than offset the second weekly fall in oil stocks, while the weekly Baker Hughes rig use report showing a 14th straight weekly rise in active US oil rigs use rattled traders confidence.
It also helped to cast some doubt on the impact of any move by OPEC and major producers like Russia to extend their production cap past June.
There seems to be growing confidence the six month cap will be extended until November.
But that is not impacting prices.
In New York, June US crude futures dropped $US1.09, or 2.2%, to settle at $US49.62, down 7.4% for the week.
In London, June Brent crude futures lost $US1.10, or 2.1%, to $US51.81 a barrel—for a loss of 7.2% over the week.
Oil services group, Baker Hughes on Friday said the number of active US rigs drilling for oil rose by 5 to 688 rigs last week.
That marks a fourteenth weekly climb in a row.
The total active US rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, also climbed by 10 to 857.
