Having plunged a week earlier, commodity prices stabilised a little towards the end of this week. That said, until we have a clearer steer on the scale and duration of the coronavirus, it is difficult to assess the economic impact or the direction of commodity prices with any confidence. We think that if the virus is brought under control fairly quickly, commodity prices have the potential to rebound strongly.
Turning to next week, investors will remain focussed on developments with coronavirus. What’s more, scheduled Chinese economic data releases may be delayed, as was the case with January’s trade data which was due out this morning. Elsewhere, OPEC+ may announce that it is bringing forward its next meeting from March to this month. This would spark hopes of deeper output cuts and could support oil prices.
Become a client to read more
This is premium content that requires an active Capital Economics subscription to view.
Already have an account?
You may already have access to this premium content as part of a paid subscription.
Sign in to read the content in full or get details of how you can access it
Register for free
Sign up for a free account to gain:
- Unlock additional content
- Register for Capital Economics events
- Receive email updates and economist-curated newsletters
- Request a free trial of our services