Commodities Weekly Oil shrugs off Iran deal A preliminary deal between Iran and the West saw oil prices fall sharply early this week, but they quickly rebounded as it became apparent that the return of Iranian oil exports would be delayed until... 10th April 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Calm before the (next) storm? The past week saw relatively little movement in commodity prices compared to the volatility earlier in the year, as the surge in the dollar ran out of steam. The biggest gainers – notably wheat and... 3rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Metals Chart Pack Precious metals prove their worth The prices of precious metals have held up relatively well this year, given the weakness of commodities in general and the headwinds from the strength of the US dollar. This bodes well for their... 3rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack Commodities remain in thrall to the dollar The ebb and flow of sentiment towards the US currency continues to be a key driver of commodity markets and especially gold and silver, keeping prices sensitive to the latest US economic data and... 3rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Middle East tensions boost oil prices A variety of factors have lifted commodity prices this past week. Renewed Middle East fears following events in Yemen boosted oil and gold. Copper prices continued their gradual recovery, helped by... 27th March 2015 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Silver outshining gold Silver has out-performed gold this year during periods when the prices of both have been rising, as usual, but it has also held on to more of its gains when both have struggled. This supports our... 27th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Dovish Fed cheers commodity markets Hints that the Fed will keep US interest rates low by past standards even when it does start to return them towards more normal levels took the steam out of the rally in the dollar and supported... 20th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Stronger dollar dominates Commodity prices have been dragged lower across the board by the strength of the dollar over the last month. Concerns about Chinese demand have also weighed on prices, particularly of industrial... 19th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Fed tightening still a near-term threat, but can be offset The gains in commodity prices after yesterday’s dovish statement could soon be more than reversed if the Fed presses ahead and raises rates earlier than the markets now expect, especially if the... 19th March 2015 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Gold prices to rebound despite higher US interest rates The conventional view is that the price of gold will inevitably suffer large and sustained falls when the Fed begins to return US interest rates towards more normal levels. But while we would expect... 18th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update What do China’s prospects mean for commodity prices? The growth rate of China’s economy has already halved since 2007, from over 14% to around 7%. What’s more, this slowdown has been the main reason why the prices of many commodities have performed so... 16th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodity prices wilt in face of surging dollar Most commodity prices fell further this week, undermined by the continued strength of the US currency and soft economic data from China. The prices of crude oils, especially the traditional US... 13th March 2015 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Quantifying the downside – and upside – for gold With other analysts reportedly revising down their forecasts and the media coverage almost entirely downbeat, we thought it worth dusting off some of our favourite gold charts. These suggest that the... 13th March 2015 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Quantifying the downside – and upside – for gold With other analysts reportedly revising down their forecasts and the media coverage almost entirely downbeat, we thought it worth dusting off some of our favourite gold charts. These suggest that the... 13th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Can commodity prices resist further dollar strength? The prospect of further gains for the US currency remains a major headwind for commodity prices. However, the dollar has already appreciated a long way and, if it continues to climb, much would still... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Payrolls data are not all bad news Most commodity prices fell this week even before the strong US payrolls data raised expectations of early Fed tightening and further dollar strength. While recognising that both developments have... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
