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Commodities

Gold set for brightest year since 2010 on rate cuts, safe-haven demand

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By Daksh Grover and Sherin Elizabeth Varghese

(Reuters) – Gold prices were set to end a record-breaking year on a positive note on Tuesday as robust central bank buying, geopolitical uncertainties and monetary policy easing fuelled the safe-haven metal’s strongest annual performance since 2010.

rose 0.4% to $2,615.00 per ounce as of 0927 GMT, while U.S. gained 0.4% to $2,627.30.

As one of the best-performing assets of 2024, bullion has gained more than 26% year-to-date, the biggest annual jump since 2010, and last scaled a record high of $2,790.15 on Oct. 31 after a series of record-breaking rallies throughout the year.

“Rising geopolitical risks, demand from central banks, easing of monetary policy by central banks globally, and the resumption of inflows into gold-linked Exchange Traded Commodities (ETC) were the primary drivers of gold’s rally in 2024,” said Aneeka Gupta, director of macroeconomic research at WisdomTree.

The metal is likely to remain supported in 2025 despite some headwinds from a stronger U.S. dollar and a slower pace of easing by the Federal Reserve, Gupta added.

The U.S. Fed delivered a third consecutive interest rate cut this month but flagged fewer rate cuts for 2025.

Donald Trump’s incoming administration was also poised to significantly impact global economic policies, encompassing tariffs, deregulation, and tax amendments.

“Bullion bulls may enjoy another stellar year ahead if global geopolitical tensions are ramped up under Trump 2.0, potentially pushing investors towards this time-tested safe haven,” said Exinity Group Chief Market Analyst Han Tan.

Bullion is often regarded as a hedge against geopolitical and economic risks and tends to perform well in low-interest-rate environments.

“We expect gold to rally to $3,000/t oz on structurally higher central bank demand and a cyclical and gradual boost to ETF holdings from Fed rate cuts,” said Daan Struyven, commodities strategist at Goldman Sachs.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A woman picks a gold earring at a jewellery shop in the old quarters of Delhi, India, May 24, 2023. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File Photo

Spot silver was steady at $28.96 per ounce, palladium rose 0.8% to $910.70, and platinum added 0.4% to $904.56.

Silver is headed for its best year since 2020, having added nearly 22% so far. Platinum and palladium are set for annual losses and have dipped over 7% and 17%, respectively.

Commodities

Oil prices rise; set for second straight weekly gain

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Investing.com–Oil prices rose on Friday, heading for a second consecutive weekly gain as optimism around China’s economic growth lifted market sentiment.

The were last up 0.8% to $76.6 a barrel, and  expiring in February was up 1.1% to $73.3 a barrel.

Oil had gained sharply in the previous session after data showed growth in Chinese factory activity.

Both contracts were on course for second consecutive weekly gains, with WTI 1.3% and 0.9% higher. 

Chinese stimulus hopes support oil prices

China’s  grew in December, a Caixin/S&P Global survey showed on Thursday, but at a slower pace than expected.

An official survey released on Tuesday also showed that China’s manufacturing activity barely grew in December. However, services and construction fared better, with the data suggesting that policy stimulus is trickling into some sectors.

Beijing has signaled looser monetary policy for 2025 and has doled out a raft of major stimulus measures since late September, in order to boost its sluggish economy.

China’s central bank has indicated that it plans to lower interest rates from the current 1.5% “at an appropriate time” in 2025, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

Traders assess EIA data amid oversupply concerns

{{8849|US crude oil inventories declined, while gasoline and distillate stocks saw significant increases as demand softened during the week ending December 27, the reported on Thursday.

The EIA stated that dropped by 1.2 million barrels last week, falling short of analysts’ expectations for a 2.8 million-barrel decrease.

Latest EIA surveys have shown that U.S. oil production remains near record levels, and the incoming Donald Trump administration is likely to agree to policies that would focus on ramping up domestic fossil fuel production.

This comes amid worries about potential oversupply driven by anticipated production increases from non-OPEC nations, further underscoring an oversupply scenario.

The International Energy Agency recently said that the oil market will remain adequately supplied, despite a rise in demand forecast for 2025.

(Peter Nurse contributed to this article.)

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Commodities

Biden to ban new oil drilling over vast areas of US Atlantic, Pacific waters, Bloomberg News reports

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(Reuters) – President Joe Biden is set to ban new offshore oil and gas development across 625 million acres (250 million hectares) of U.S. coastal territory, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

The ban, to be announced on Monday, rules out the sale of drilling rights in stretches of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, said the report, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Biden is leaving the possibility open for new oil and leasing in the central and western areas of the Gulf of Mexico, which account for around 14% of the nation’s production of these fuels, the report said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside of business hours.

The ban would solidify Biden’s legacy on addressing climate change and his goal to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050.

The New York Times (NYSE:) reported that a section of the law Biden’s decision relies on, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, gives a president wide leeway to bar drilling and does not include language that would allow President-elect Donald Trump or other future presidents to revoke the ban.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on securing 235 judicial confirmations, at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 2, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

Biden, Trump and Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, all used the law to ban sales of offshore drilling rights in some coastal areas.

Trump tried in 2017 to reverse Arctic and Atlantic Ocean withdrawals Obama had made at the end of his presidency, but a federal judge ruled in 2019 that the law does not give presidents the legal authority to overturn prior bans.

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Commodities

Russia clears thousands of tons of contaminated sand after Black Sea oil spill

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(Reuters) – Russian rescue workers have cleared more than 86,000 metric tons of contaminated sand and earth on either side of the Kerch Strait following an oil spill in the Black Sea last month, the emergencies ministry said on Saturday.

The oil leaked from two ageing tankers that were hit by a storm on Dec. 15. One sank and the other ran aground.

More than 10,000 people have been working to shovel up viscous, foul-smelling fuel oil from sandy beaches in and around Anapa, a popular summer resort. Environmental groups have reported deaths of dolphins, porpoises and sea birds.

The emergencies ministry said on the Telegram messaging app that oil-tainted soil had been collected in the broader Kuban region in Russia and in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Kyiv in 2014.

The ministry published video footage showing dozens of workers in protective suits loading bags of dirt onto diggers and others skimming dirt off the sand with shovels.

Russia’s transport ministry said this week experts had established that about 2,400 metric tons of oil products had spilled into the sea, a smaller spill than initially feared.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A volunteer works to clear spilled oil on the coastline following an incident involving two tankers damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait, in the settlement of Blagoveshchenskaya near the Black Sea resort of Anapa in the Krasnodar region, Russia December 21, 2024. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov/File Photo

When the disaster struck, state media reported that the stricken tankers, both more than 50-years old, were carrying some 9,200 metric tons (62,000 barrels) of oil products in total.

The spill involved heavy M100-grade fuel oil that solidifies at a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and, unlike other oil products, does not float to the surface but sinks to the bottom or remains suspended in the water column.

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