COM - Commodity Roundup: Gold firm; JPM less bullion' on oil and gas in 2024

2023-12-18 06:14:31 ET

Gold prices ticked up on Monday at the start of the penultimate week of the year helped by a softer U.S. dollar, and lower benchmark 10-year bond yield, while investors broadly awaited U.S. inflation data due later this week after the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest dovish transition. Spot gold ( XAUUSD:CUR ) was up +0.08% to $2,019.73 by 6:09?am ET.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic expects the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates “sometime in the third quarter” of 2024 if inflation falls as expected, Reuters reported, citing an interview with him. Bostic expects progress on the central bank’s inflation target to warrant two quarter-percentage-point rate cuts over the second half of next year.

In the energy market, oil prices were trading lower after initial gains following attacks by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea, which raised concerns of oil supply disruptions and Russia's plan to lower exports in December provided additional support, Reuters reported.

Both crude benchmarks posted small gains last week, following seven weeks of decline, after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised hopes that interest rate hikes are nearing and cuts are on their way.

J.P. Morgan Global Energy Year ahead meanwhile noted that, the Bank is "less bullish on the (oil and gas) sector’s prospects given ample supply of both oil gas. While the post pandemic recovery in oil demand has largely played out as expected, the continued intervention from OPEC+ to subsidize the global oil market suggests more limited upside to oil prices over the next 12- months, although it would seemingly protect a floor above $70/bbl Brent."

Among base metals, copper prices also inched lower despite a weaker dollar, as investors remained cautious against overall macro uncertainty. Copper posted a weekly gain in the last session supported by supply headwinds.

November refined copper production in China, the world's top smelter, fell below expectation to 960,800 tons as a result of tight supply for copper blister, according to Shanghai Metals Market.

Meanwhile new UK sanctions will prohibit British citizens and companies from trading in a wide range of Russian metals, according to documents published by the government.

Elsewhere in the agriculture market, soybeans and wheat prices fell, which cocoa inched higher. Foreign entities bought 3.4 million acres of U.S. farmland in 2022, with the biggest increases in Colorado, Alabama and Michigan, said the latest report on foreign agricultural landholdings by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as per reports.

Recent Commodity Price Movements

• Energy

  • WTI Crude Oil ( CL1:COM ) -0.59% to $71.01.

  • Natural Gas ( NG1:COM ) +2.63% to $2.56.

  Metals

  • Palladium ( XPDUSD:CUR ) -0.13% to $1,172.03.

  • Silver ( XAGUSD:CUR ) +0.01% to $23.83.
  • Copper ( HG1:COM ) -0.64% to $3.86.

  Agriculture

  • Corn ( C_1:COM ) -0.21% to $482.00.
  • Wheat ( W_1:COM ) -0.82% to $624.10.
  • Soybeans ( S_1:COM ) -0.40% to $1,310.50.

  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 ( SOYB )
  • Teucrium Wheat ETF ( WEAT )
  • Teucrium Corn Fund ETF ( CORN )

For further details see: