Precious Metals: Gold steady after BoJ stimulus measures
Precious metals were mixed on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan announced that it will expand its assent and loan-purchasing program to boost economy. Weaker US Dollar coupled with rising holdings of the largest precious metals-backed funds created additional support for the commodity group.
Gold was almost flat despite easing measures in Japan and weaker US Dollar. Positive data from the US real estate market pressurized the yellow metal’s price.
Silver slid despite a 0.43% increase in silver holdings of iShares Silver Trust and stronger global equities. Positive headlines from the US and persistent Eurozone’s concerns sent the white metal lower.
Platinum climbed on renewed supply concerns form South Africa. Miners at Anglo American Platinum’s mine started to protest after news that Lonmin’s miners won an increase in wages.
Palladium was the-top gainer, rallying 0.73% amid hopes for stronger demand amid global monetary easing.
Industrial Metals: Aluminum slid ahead of global PMI releases
Industrial metals were mixed on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan announced easing program to stimulate faltering economy. Moreover, slightly better-than-expected HSBC China’s PMI release lifted the base metals.
Aluminum was the top-loser amid increased global output and elevated inventory levels at the LME warehouses. Meanwhile, traders remained cautious ahead of the US jobless claims data due on Thursday.
Copper added 0.37% on positive headlines from the US and Asia. US existing home sales reached more than two-year high, thus pushing the red metal higher.
Nickel extended losses amid persistent supply. Increasing cautiousness ahead of flash PMI data from Eurozone and US due on Thursday also weighted down on the metal’s price.
Zinc was top-performer as canceled warrants at the LME soared about 15%, pointing at potential drop in inventories.
Energy: Crude oil sank after US inventory report
Energy commodities tumbled on Wednesday as BoJ stimulus measures failed to provide strong support for the commodity group. Elevated inventory levels in the US as well as potential increase in supplies form Libya, Russia and Saudi Arabia created heavy pressure on energy prices.
Crude oil plunged after the EIA reported that US crude oil inventories climbed 8.5 million barrels last week compared to forecasts of a one-million-barrel increase.
Brent oil slumped after Turkey’s energy minister announced that he was talking with Saudi Arabia, Russia and Libya about increasing output to compensate shortfall caused by Iranian oil embargo.
Natural gas was bullish during the US morning session; however, anticipation of the US natural gas inventory report and cooler weather forecasts erased early gains of the commodity.
Heating oil dropped despite a 0.3-million-barrel fall in the US distillate fuel inventories last week. At the moment, US distillate fuel inventories remain close to the lower limit of the average range for this year period.
Agriculture: Wheat gained despite absence of export limits in Ukraine
Agricultural commodities were mixed on Wednesday, with grains climbing and coffee and sugar slumping. Broadly weaker US Dollar and stimulus measures in Japan boosted market sentiment.
Wheat rose as Morocco is likely to suspend all wheat taxes starting from October as commodity price on the international market remains high. However, news that Ukraine will not impose wheat export restrictions capped the upswing.
Corn advanced on hopes that slightly lower prices will attract more importers and investors. Restricting upswing of the commodity, record harvest in Brazil may ease world’s supply concerns.
Sugar dropped as global supplies may beat forecasts. The sweetener’s output is likely to exceed demand by 8.043 million MT compared to June’s forecast of 7.07 million MT, reported Green Pool Commodity Specialists Pty.
Coffee erased previous gains on news that Latin American coffee exports rose by annualized 2.7% last month.
EXPLANATIONS
Commodities
Gold - spot 995 fine gold
Silver - spot 999 fine silver
Platinum - spot platinum with minimum purity 99.95%
Palladium - spot palladium with minimum purity 99.95%
Aluminium - three-month forward contract on the London Metal Exchange
Copper - three-month forward contract on the London Metal Exchange
Zinc - three-month forward contract on the London Metal Exchange
Nickel - three-month forward contract on the London Metal Exchange
Crude oil - light, sweet crude oil active contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange
Brent oil - Brent oil active contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange
Natural Gas - natural gas active contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange
Heating oil - heating oil active contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange
Sugar - white sugar wheat active contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
Wheat - wheat active contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
Coffee - benchmark Arabica coffee active contract on the NYB-ICE Futures Exchange
Corn - corn active contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
Indices
Dow Jones-UBS Precious Metals Subindex Total Return - commodity group subindex composed of gold and silver; the index reflects return on underlying commodity futures price movement
Dow Jones-UBS Industry Metals Subindex Total Return - commodity group subindex composed of futures contracts on aluminium, copper, nickel and zinc; the index reflects return on fully collateralized futures positions
Dow Jones-UBS Energy Subindex Total Return - commodity group subindex composed of futures contracts on crude oil, heating oil, unleaded gasoline and natural gas; the index reflects return on fully collateralized futures positions
Dow Jones-UBS Agriculture Subindex Total Return - commodity group subindex composed of futures contracts on coffee, corn, cotton, soybeans, soybean oil, sugar and wheat; the index reflects return on fully collateralized futures positions
Chart
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SMA (20) - Simple Moving Average of 20 periods
SMA (60) - Simple Moving Average of 60 periods
Correlation - a statistical measure of the linear relationship of two random variables. It is defined as the covariance divided by the standard deviation of two variables
Indicators
Daily Ranked Price Moves - daily price changes in an ascending order for positive changes and in a descending order for negative or mixed changes
Monthly Ranked Price Moves - monthly price changes in an ascending order for positive changes and in a descending order for negative or mixed changes
