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Oil prices rose on Friday, with WTI crude up about 2%, however, both benchmarks were headed for a seventh straight weekly decline on worries over a global supply surplus and tepid demand in top crude importer China. Oil prices fell close to a five-month low in the previous session amid mounting concerns about excess supplies, that left algorithmic traders calling the shots.
Elsewhere in the energy world, European gas extended gains as the pace of withdrawals from storage facilities increased. A cold snap across the continent has increased demand for the heating fuel, said ANZ Research. “The North Asia LNG was buoyed by data showing strong demand in China. Imports in November were up 6.15% y/y to 10.95mt, its highest level in nearly two years. Most of these volumes have been via long term contracts.”
Gold headed for a nearly 2% weekly loss, after three-straight of week gains, as traders awaited the headline U.S. jobs report that could shed light on the path of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. On the day, gold (XAUUSD:CUR) was little changed at $2,028.26 an ounce by 6 am ET.
Meanwhile, the World Gold Council reported that, global gold ETFs outflows slowed significantly in November supported by net inflows into North American funds. Geopolitical risk and investor positioning helped push gold higher in the month, contributing to the change in trend in the U.S. “So far in 2023, collective holdings of global gold ETFs are down by 7%, while total assets under management saw a 5% increase amid a higher gold price.”
Further, the likelihood of the Fed steering the U.S. economy to a safe landing with interest rates above 5% is by no means certain, and so a global recession is still on the cards. “This should encourage many investors to hold effective hedges, such as gold, in their portfolios,” WGC said in its 2024 outlook.
Among industrial metals, copper prices advanced on Friday on expectations of improving demand in China, and signs of recovery as per the country’s exports data. However, on a weekly basis, LME copper is set for the first fall in four. Both LME aluminium and LME zinc were on track for the biggest weekly decline since Oct. 6.
Among agriculture commodities, soybean futures ticked up, while wheat and cocoa fell ahead of the USDA WASDE report, to be released on Dec. 8 (12:00 pm ET). The US Department of Agriculture is expected to trim its global soybean ending stock figures in the December edition of its WASDE report, according to an Agricensus’ poll of six traders and analysts.
Recent Commodity Price Movements
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Energy
Metals
Agriculture
- Corn (C_1:COM) -0.59% to $465.47.
- Wheat (W_1:COM) -1.15% to $615.62.
- Soybeans (S_1:COM) +0.25% to $1,315.00.
Commodity ETFs
Gold ETFs:
- SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD)
- VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX)
- VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ)
- iShares Gold Trust ETF (IAU)
- Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bull 2X Shares ETF (NUGT)
- Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS)
Other Metal ETFs:
- iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV)
- Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV)
- Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL)
- U.S. Copper Index Fund, LP ETF (CPER)
- abrdn Physical Palladium Shares ETF (PALL)
Oil ETFs:
- U.S. Oil Fund, LP ETF (USO)
- Invesco DB Oil Fund ETF (DBO)
- U.S. 12 Month Oil Fund, LP ETF (USL)
- U.S. Brent Oil Fund, LP ETF (BNO)
- U.S. Natural Gas Fund, LP ETF (UNG)
- U.S. Gasoline Fund, LP ETF (UGA)
Agriculture ETFs:
- Invesco DB Agriculture Fund ETF (DBA)
- Teucrium Soybean ETF (NYSEARCA:SOYB)
- Teucrium Wheat ETF (NYSEARCA:WEAT)
- Teucrium Corn Fund ETF (CORN)
