A summary of trading in key commodities markets overseas:
ENERGY
Oil prices rose slightly Friday on little industry news and a noncommittal speech on the US economic outlook from central bank chief Ben Bernanke, as a huge hurricane barrelled toward the US east coast.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October delivery, rose seven US cents to $US85.37 a barrel, not far from where it began the week.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for October rose 74 US cents to settle at $US111.36 a barrel.
Hurricane Irene’s looming assault on the US east coast, including New York City and areas in the northeast corridor where numerous refineries and tank farms are located, also appeared to leave traders unfazed.
While US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke disappointed many by giving no hint of a new stimulus program for the economy in a highly anticipated speech at a Jackson Hole, Wyoming. However, markets were assuaged by his announcement that the Fed was going to have two days of talks about its options on September 20-21.
PRECIOUS METALS
Gold rose two per cent after days of liquidation pushed bullion down from record highs this week, as the US Federal Reserve chairman raised hopes that the central bank could consider further stimulus measures to fight high unemployment.
Gold fell briefly after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke did not provide details on steps the central bank could take, but it rose as investors focused on the Fed’s pessimistic economic outlook and its intention to consider what more it could do at an extended policy meeting in September.
Spot gold was up 2.2 per cent at $US1,808.60 an ounce by 2.28pm EDT (0428 AEST).
But gold was still set for its first weekly loss in eight weeks after days of profit taking on its surge to record highs at $US1,911.46 on Tuesday. Prices slid more than $US200 from that level by Thursday in volatile trading.
US gold futures for December delivery settled up $US34.10 an ounce at $US1,797.30. Trading volume was lighter than the last three sessions, when turnover hit a new record in volatile trade.
Greece could miss its 2011 fiscal targets and can expect tough discussions on its bailout program next week with senior inspectors from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, sources close to the situation told Reuters.
Gold received a boost after government data earlier showed the US economy grew much more slowly than previously thought in the second quarter as business inventories and exports were less robust, although consumer spending was revised up. Crude oil and grain prices also gained.
Fears that Hurricane Irene could wreak havoc in the populous US Northeast and to disrupt the world’s biggest financial markets there prompted investors to turn to liquid investments such as gold and Treasuries.
Outflows from the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded funds also dried up on Thursday, with its holdings remaining at 1,232.3 tonnes. It is still on track to post an outflow of nearly 60 tonnes this week, however.
Silver was up 0.5 per cent at $US41.19 an ounce.
Among platinum group metals, spot platinum was up 0.7 per cent at $US1,824.74 an ounce, and palladium was up 1.3 per cent at $US756.72.
BASE METALS
Copper ended up for a fourth straight day, as investors banking on a second-half demand revival in China and longer-term supply tightness stepped up purchases ahead of a long holiday weekend.
Even after a highly-anticipated speech from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke displeased some investors by failing to offer any fresh stimulus measures, industrial metal prices failed to reflect the disappointment.
Gains piled up across the complex, with short-covering rallies boosting both lead and zinc by more than three per cent and nickel futures by 2.7 per cent.
Copper snapped a three-week losing streak as investors shifted their focus away from the Fed and its bleak assessment of the US economy and instead began to concentrate on the metal’s increasingly bullish fundamentals.
London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month copper briefly dipped below $US9,000 per tonne after Bernanke stopped short of signaling further action to boost growth, before staging a late recovery to end up $US45 at $US9,075.
The LME will be closed on Monday, August 29, for a summer bank holiday. Trading will resume on Tuesday.
In New York, the active December COMEX contract rose 1.95 US cents to settle at $US4.1175 per lb.
Trading volumes picked up alongside buyer momentum Friday, with about 60,000 lots traded in New York — up more than 20 per cent from the 30-day norm, according to preliminary data from Thomson Reuters.
US data showing the economy grew at a paltry one per cent annual rate in the second quarter added to the pessimistic tone, but failed to dent copper’s longer-term considerations.
A threatened strike in coming days at Freeport McMoran’s Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia, the world’s third biggest, added another layer of support for prices and reinforced concerns over supply tightness.
Helping copper prices further, the dollar fell against a basket of currencies.
Highlighting firm demand and dwindling supplies, deliverable inventories of the metal in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 8.7 per cent, or almost 10,000 tonnes to 102,258 from last Friday.
The copper cash-to-three-month contango — a discount for cash over three-month material — narrowed to $US14.50 from $US25.75 on August 3.
Three-month aluminium closed up $US17 at $US2,378 per tonne.
