Connect with us
  • tg

Commodities

Gold falls in price – hawkish stance of Fed supports the dollar

letizo News

Published

on

Gold falls in price

Gold prices experienced a decline on Wednesday due to the strengthening dollar, following recent statements from the U.S. Federal Reserve officials that diminished expectations of interest rate cuts this year.

The spot gold price fell by 0.14% to $1,985.79 per troy ounce, trading close to a two-week low reached on Tuesday.

According to Giovanni Staunovo of UBS, “It appears that some market participants are still anticipating another rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is putting pressure on gold.”

Chicago Fed Chairman Austin Goolsbee stated that it is premature to discuss a rate cut, while Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester mentioned that the central bank has not yet reached a point where it can maintain interest rates at a stable level for an extended period.

Staunovo added, “We still anticipate prices to rise over the next 12 months, with gold expected to reach $2,200 per ounce. However, the next price surge will likely occur when the Fed’s tone becomes more dovish.”

Despite these factors, concerns regarding a potential U.S. default and its economic consequences have helped support precious metal prices.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican Congressional leader Kevin McCarthy came close to an agreement on the debt ceiling on Tuesday in an effort to prevent a catastrophic default, although full consensus has yet to be reached.

Palladium experienced a decline of 0.59% to $1,492.88 per ounce, while silver fell by 0.23% to $23.68 per ounce. On the other hand, the price of platinum rose by 1.17% to $1,069.58.

Earlier, we reported that EU authorities predicted Brent price to fall to $72 a barrel in 2024.

Commodities

Oil prices wrap up Q1 with strong gains as Russia cuts ease oversupply worries

letizo News

Published

on

Investing.com– Oil prices settled higher Thursday to wrap the first quarter with strong gains as bets on lower Russia output eased worries about a global supply surplus.    

At 14:30 ET (18:30 GMT), rose 1.6% to settle at $87.48 a barrel, while rose 2.2% to $83.17 a barrel taking its gains for Q1 to about 16%.

Tight supply see oil prices notch strong Q1 gains 

Prices were boosted chiefly by a tighter outlook for markets, as Russia, Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept ongoing production curbs in place. Russia had earlier in March said it will deepen its ongoing production cuts, while fuel supplies in the country also shrank following a series of debilitating attacks by Ukraine on Russian fuel refineries.

Few signs of a deescalation in the Israel-Hamas war, which has raised geopolitical tensions in the oil-rich Middle East region, also underpinned oil prices, as did persistent supply disruptions stemming from Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. 

OPEC meets next week

Investors will watch for cues from a meeting next week of the Joint Monitoring Ministerial Committee of producer group the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries amid supply concerns over ongoing geopolitical risks.

That said, the group  is unlikely to make any oil output policy changes until a full ministerial gathering in June.

Russia and Saudi Arabia, who lead the group known as OPEC+, extended their output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day until the end of June. 

“While expectations of the group recommending any change to its supply policy are not high, any signs of members not adhering to current production quotas will be seen as a bearish sign,” ANZ Research said in a note.

(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to the article.)

Continue Reading

Commodities

Oil prices advance on tighter supply outlook

letizo News

Published

on

By Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices firmed on Thursday, following two consecutive sessions of decline, as investors saw a tighter supply outlook ahead, while the OPEC+ producer alliance was widely expected to stay the course on its current production cuts.

Brent crude futures for May were up 91 cents, or 1.1%, at $87 a barrel while the more actively traded June contract rose 75 cents, or 0.9%, to $86.16 at 1101 GMT. The May contract expires on Thursday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for May delivery were up 89 cents, or 1.1%, to $82.24 a barrel.

Both benchmarks were on track to finish higher for a third consecutive month.

In the prior session, oil prices were pressured following last week’s unexpected rise in oil and gasoline inventories, driven by a rise in crude imports and sluggish gasoline demand, according to Energy Information Administration data.

However, the crude stock increase was smaller than the build projected by the American Petroleum Institute, and analysts pointed out that the increase was lower than what would be expected for this time of year.

“We … expect U.S. inventories to rise less than normal in reflection of a global oil market in a slight deficit,” SEB analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said. “This will likely hand support to the price going forward.”

Also providing support to prices were U.S. refinery utilisation rates, which rose 0.9 percentage points last week.

Recent disappointing inflation data affirms the case for the U.S. Federal Reserve to hold off on cutting its short-term interest rate target, a Fed governor said on Wednesday, but he did not rule out trimming rates later in the year.

“The market is converging on a June start to cuts for both the Fed and the European Central Bank,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note. Lower interest rates support oil demand.

Investors will watch for cues from a meeting next week of the Joint Monitoring Ministerial Committee of producer group the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) amid supply concerns over geopolitical risks.

OPEC+ is unlikely to make any oil output policy changes until a full ministerial gathering in June.

© Reuters. An aerial view shows oil tanks of Transneft oil pipeline operator at the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia June 13, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel

“[We] do not see any indications that the recent run-up in prices due to the heightened Russian infrastructure risk will prompt any policy reversal at next week’s JMMC meeting.” RBC analyst Helima Croft said.

“Any serious shift will likely have to wait until the June 1 ministerial meeting, and even then, we believe the group will be very judicious when it comes to unwinding any cuts.”

Continue Reading

Commodities

Firmer oil prices expected as demand builds and supply curbs persist: Reuters poll

letizo News

Published

on

By Sherin Elizabeth Varghese

(Reuters) – Oil prices will gain some momentum this year as demand picks up and output curbs by the OPEC+ producer group continue to squeeze supply that is already being pressured by military conflicts, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.

A survey of 46 economists and analysts forecast that would average $82.33 a barrel in 2024, up from the $81.13 consensus projection in February. expectations were raised to $78.09, up from the $76.54 forecast last month.

This was the first upward revision in 2024 consensus forecasts since the October poll.

“We see the oil price rally going further until the summer months,” said Florian Grunberger, senior analyst at data and analytics firm Kpler. “This is due to the geopolitical risk premium and the interests of OPEC+ members, coupled with increasing demand in China.”

Oil prices have added more than 12% in the quarter so far, fuelled by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries. [O/R]

On the demand side, the overall consensus was roughly in line with the 1.3 million barrel per day (bpd) rise for 2024 projected by the International Energy Agency.

The IEA’s forecast was far less bullish than that of OPEC, which expects demand growth at 2.25 million bpd this year and said the 2024 and 2025 growth trajectories of India, China and the United States could exceed current expectations.

“Traders have now fully absorbed the implications of the OPEC+ supply cut extensions at a time when demand is proving more robust than expected,” said Matthew Sherwood, lead commodities analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A person uses a fuel nozzle to fuel up a car at a petrol station in Vienna, Austria March 18, 2022. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

OPEC+ members led by Saudi Arabia and Russia are unlikely to make any oil output policy changes until a full ministerial gathering in June, three OPEC+ sources told Reuters.

“Convincing OPEC+ members to under-produce as a group to maintain oil prices above a certain level is not going to be easy,” said Suvro Sarkar, energy sector team lead at DBS Bank, pointing to rising surplus capacity and the loss of OPEC+ market share to non-OPEC+ producers such as the United States.

Continue Reading

Trending

©2021-2024 Letizo All Rights Reserved