Commodities Weekly Oil takes a tumble Agricultural commodities were some of the star performers this week as a truckers’ strike in Brazil raised concerns about supply. In contrast, metals prices struggled, as the trade talks between China... 25th May 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil rallies on Iran jitters Oil prices continued to benefit from the uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, this week. However, heightened geopolitical risks... 18th May 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil prices jump on US sanctions Donald Trump’s announcement that he will pull the US out of the nuclear agreement with Tehran and re-impose sanctions on Iran’s crude exports caused oil prices to jump this week. Meanwhile, China’s... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Markets looking for direction There was little in the way of market-moving data or news this week. China’s PMI data for April were broadly unchanged on the month, painting a picture of relative stability. Meanwhile, although the... 4th May 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Quiet after the storm The earlier surge in oil and industrial metals prices came to an abrupt halt this week as oil stabilised and there were sharp falls in the prices of some metals. In particular, the US Treasury’s... 27th April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Rising tensions boost prices Geopolitical concerns continued to be the main driver of commodities prices this week. In particular, fears that US sanctions could be broadened to include Russian producer, Nornickel, buoyed the... 20th April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Sanctions on Russia send aluminium soaring Geopolitical concerns intensified this week and led to sharp increases in those commodities at risk of disruptions to supply. In particular, the price of aluminium surged following the announcement of... 13th April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Protectionist rhetoric weighs on prices Trade tensions escalated this week, as the US and China engaged in tit-for-tat announcements on proposed tariffs. The prices of commodities which would be affected by the tariffs generally fell... 6th April 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly A quiet week for commodities Commodity markets took something of a breather this week after last week’s sharp moves. Fears of a trade war between the US and China have receded a little, which helped to stabilise prices. The... 29th March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Trump’s tariffs unsettle investors The US was the focus of markets this week. The Fed hiked its target rate by 25bp on Wednesday to 1.50%-1.75% but this had been widely anticipated and there was little reaction in commodity markets. In... 23rd March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly All quiet on the commodities front There were few large moves in commodity prices this week. China’s activity data for the first two months of the year, published on Wednesday, were reasonably strong but failed to give a material lift... 16th March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Trump’s tariffs become reality The big news this week was confirmation of President Trump’s tariffs on US steel and aluminium imports on national security grounds. This sent US steel prices even higher, but weighed on prices in... 9th March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Trump’s tariffs target commodities It was generally a negative week for commodity prices. Oil prices tumbled and precious metals prices were buffeted by Jerome Powell’s testimony, which all but ensured a rate hike this month. China’s... 2nd March 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Sentiment sours in the metals markets The prices of most precious and industrial metals fell back this week in the wake of a small appreciation of the US dollar. The FOMC minutes, released on Wednesday, all but ensured another US rate... 23rd February 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodities spring back The prices of most commodities rose this week, helped by a depreciation of the US dollar and a revival in global equity prices. Industrial metals, in particular, posted some large gains, although... 16th February 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodities caught in the cross-fire The prices of metals and energy commodities slumped this week in the wake of the sell-off in global equity markets and a general move out of riskier assets. Markets shrugged off data showing strong... 9th February 2018 · 1 min read
