| Aluminium gains, agris spike, crude witnesses profit-taking
MUMBAI: The commodity markets were volatile last week as the surprise Fed move on interest rates caused short-term turbulence. The immediate reaction was a short-term upmove on select base metals as the industrial outlook (at least as a perception) improved and shorts were squeezed. The bullion outlook, too, improved as hedge fund activity was seen driving prices higher. Select agri-commodities spiked higher and the outlook was slightly more upbeat compared with the previous week. MCX volumes fell 2% and open interest tripped by a similar amount on a week-on-week basis. Turnover gainers were copper, mentha oil, potato, zinc and aluminium. Open interest gainers were natural gas, zinc, refined soya oil and chana. Agri-commodities
Chana has established Rs 2,100 level as a critical support and as long as this threshold is not violated downwards, the outlook remains optimistic.
Oil sets record at $100.01 a barrel
The petroleum world produced a record Tuesday, which was bad news for consumers. Frenzied trading sent crude oil surging above $100 a barrel to $100.01 — the highest closing price ever for oil on the New York commodities market, making it likely that gas prices soon will jump, too. In addition, prices for gold, copper and other commodities soared as investment funds sought places to park their money in the face of inflation concerns and a weaker dollar. Also Tuesday, the Energy Department confirmed what anyone who filled up recently already knows — that pump prices are on the rise, bringing the U.S. average back above the $3-a-gallon mark. The nationwide average cost of self-serve regular jumped 8.2 cents over the past week to $3.04 a gallon Monday, released a day late because of the Presidents Day holiday.
Platinum Hits Record High Yet Again; Wheat Also Jumps To All-Time High
Platinum hit record highs for a third straight session on Monday amid output woes in South Africa and inflation from pricier oil. Wheat also peaked for a third day running on heavy speculative buying. Copper prices ended up but off their highs after a large earthquake in Chile, the world's biggest producer of copper and home to a wide array of industrial metal deposits. Leading commodity indexes such as the Reuters-Jefferies CRB, S&P GSCI and Dow Jones-AIG all rose about 1% each. Fundamentals aside, investors were drawn to commodities after Wall Street stocks slid on uninspiring U.S. factory orders for December which came in below expectations but not weak enough to spark a broad market shake-up. A weaker U.S. dollar against the euro also bolstered the case for buying inflation-sensitive commodities, particularly precious metals like gold and platinum.
Traders Bracing For Slump Drive Up Platinum, Wheat, Coffee And Cocoa
Platinum and spring wheat hit record highs Thursday and arabica coffee and cocoa set new trading peaks as well, as investors in commodities pursued markets deemed less vulnerable to the slowing U.S. economy. Copper, an economically sensitive base metal, overcame jitters over U.S. growth by reacting to Wednesday's cut in interest rates. Traders said copper was also inspired by Thursday's rebound in Wall Street stocks and lingering production issues in China. But broad commodity futures indexes closed mixed, with the Reuters-Jefferies CRB and Dow Jones-AIG up and the S&P GSCI down. U.S. crude oil also fell, closing 58 cents lower at $91.75 a barrel on fears of slowing growth in the world's largest economy and the leading energy-consuming nation. Investors in energy were also sidelined ahead of an OPEC meeting on production quotas set for Friday.
Barclays Launches Eight Commodity Sub-Sector iPath(R) Exchange Traded ...
NEW YORK, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Barclays Bank PLC announced today the launch of eight new iPath(R) Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) on the NYSE Arca stock exchange. The iPath ETNs are the first Exchange Traded Notes designed to offer exposure to sub-indexes of the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index(SM). They are linked to agriculture, copper, energy, grains, industrial metals, livestock, natural gas, and nickel. "The new iPath sub-sector ETNs provide investors with access to harder-to- reach markets," said Philippe El-Asmar, Head of Investor Solutions, Americas at Barclays Capital. "Investments in iPath Exchange Traded Notes surpassed $3.6 billion in just under 16 months from inception, and we believe these new ETNs will continue to attract attention particularly with daily creations and redemptions available since October 1, 2007." "The new iPath ETNs demonstrate Barclays continued commitment to providing investors with innovative investment solutions to the commodity markets," added Benoit de Vitry, Head of Commodities, Emerging Markets Rates and Quantitative Analytics at Barclays Capital.
Import difficulties outweigh recession fears
Commodities took off on Monday after their weak performance on Friday. In the oil market the uncertain prospects of economic growth in the US had been pushed to the background for a time, and focus was on import problems in Texas and Louisiana. All passage of tankers to the country's most important oil terminal was halted because of dense fog. The difficulties helped to send oil as high as USD 90.83, and oil closed the day up by 1.2%. Subsequently it was possible for a few tankers to move in, which put pressure on oil. This morning, however, all activity is again reported to be at a standstill. Copper and aluminium both gained almost half a percentage on a day when the Asian coal prices hit a new record. The tight coal market has caused suspension of an appreciable portion of the production of base metals in both China and South Africa.
American Stock Exchange Lists GreenHaven Continuous Commodity Index ...
NEW YORK, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) announced today that it has launched trading in the GreenHaven Continuous Commodity Index Fund (AMEX: GCC) , managed by GreenHaven Commodity Services, LLC. GCC aims to track the performance of the Continuous Commodity Total Return Index, an equal weighted basket of 17 commodities (corn, wheat, soybeans, live cattle, lean hogs, gold, platinum, silver, copper, cocoa, coffee, sugar, cotton, orange juice, crude oil, heating oil and natural gas). Reuters America, LLC owns and calculates the Index. "The American Stock Exchange is pleased to welcome and support GreenHaven as they enter the ETF marketplace," said Scott Ebner, Senior Vice President of the Amex's ETF marketplace. "GCC reflects a growing investor interest in commodity linked products." Ashmead Pringle, President of GreenHaven Commodity Services, LLC, stated, "Increasingly, many investors have concluded that commodities are an asset class that should be represented in a balanced portfolio.
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