Commodities Weekly Powell & China wake commodities from their slumber After a quiet start to the week, Friday’s announcement of additional Chinese tariffs on US imports and Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole stirred prices (and President Trump) into action. Most... 23rd August 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly A short-term reprieve, before prices fall further President Trump’s decision to delay the proposed 10% tariff on just over $150bn of Chinese imports gave a lift to most industrial commodity prices this week. That said, any optimism about an improved... 16th August 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly Some signs of the dust settling The fall-out from Mr Trump’s threat to levy a 10% tariff on $300bn worth of Chinese imports continued to roil commodity markets this week. The prices of crude oil and most industrial commodities fell... 9th August 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly What a difference a day makes … Yesterday’s announcement by President Trump that a 10% tariff is to be levied on $300bn worth of Chinese goods came as a shock after reports of “constructive” trade talks between the US and China... 2nd August 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly Next week is all talk (and maybe some price action) Commodity prices have largely been treading water, ahead of some major events next week. The Fed will announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday. A 25 basis points rate cut is already priced... 26th July 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly Precious metals prices starting to look vulnerable We now expect the Fed to start cutting interest rates at the end of this month. However, we only expect a quarter-point reduction in July and only one further cut this year. While lower US interest... 19th July 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly Boost from Powell put to fade fast Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s confirmation earlier this week that an interest rate cut is likely in July gave most commodity prices a lift. And oil prices rose to their highest level since May following a... 12th July 2019 · 8 mins read
Commodities Weekly Commodities down in the dumps Despite a swathe of news that should have been positive, commodity prices struggled to make gains this week as concerns about global growth continue to weigh on sentiment. Even the strong US... 5th July 2019 · 7 mins read
Commodities Weekly Outcome of G20 and OPEC meetings to drive prices Commodity markets have been relatively quiet ahead of the G20 meeting (this weekend) and OPEC meetings (Monday and Tuesday). Investors are optimistic that a truce on trade will be agreed when... 28th June 2019 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly Middle East tensions back in the spotlight Having surged this week, the price of oil could rise further in the near term if tensions between Iran and the US continue to escalate. At the same time, the price of gold is benefitting from an... 21st June 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Demand concerns are now driving prices Markets appear to have come round to our long-held view that slower economic activity this year will weigh on the prices of most energy and industrial commodities. Not even an attack on oil tankers... 14th June 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Fed easing not a panacea for commodities Driven in large part by investors pricing in a greater degree of interest rate cuts in the US, the gold price leapt to its highest level in over a year this week. That same anticipation of policy... 7th June 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Trade back in the driving seat Trade was the big theme this week once again, with China suggesting it could restrict exports of rare earth elements to the US, as well as a rise in US-Mexico trade tensions. Consequently, the prices... 31st May 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Demand concerns spreading to oil Weak flash PMIs in major advanced economies, especially in the US, have led to increased worries about the demand for industrial commodities. As a result, the recent softness in industrial metal... 24th May 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Geopolitics will be a factor in OPEC’s output policy Softer April activity and spending data out of China and negative sentiment surrounding the impasse in US-China trade talks weighed on the prices of many metals this week. We had always suspected that... 17th May 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Tariffs are not good news for commodity prices President Trump’s decision to ratchet up the pressure on China by raising trade tariffs weighed heavily on most commodity prices this week. However, market sentiment improved a little on Friday as it... 10th May 2019 · 1 min read
