There was no clear trend in commodity prices this week. The price of oil rose on data showing a sharp fall in US crude stocks, while metals took some comfort from the announcement of new trade talks between the US and China. However, optimism subsequently faded as the talks did not appear to have the support of President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, a soft August US inflation number gave a lift to precious metals prices.
Next week, markets will remain focused on news related to the US trade dispute with China and the ongoing NAFTA talks with Canada. Otherwise, it will be relatively quiet on the data front. The market has now largely priced in a rate hike by the Fed at the FOMC meeting on September 25th-26th. Indeed, if the Fed were to leave rates on hold, it would probably give a significant boost to commodity prices, particularly gold.
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