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LONDON, April 6: Oil prices shot up to $28 a barrel this week for the first time since the immediate aftermath of the September 11, attacks, as Middle East turmoil made for volatile trading.
A rising tide of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed and calls from Iraq and Iran for a collective Arab oil embargo against the West fueled concerns about disruption to Middle East oil supplies.
Gold held its ground above $300 an ounce as its safe-haven status played in its favour. Platinum also benefitted from the tensions, though base metals prices ended mainly weaker.
GOLD: Gold prices held up above 300 dollars an ounce as its safe-haven status came back into play amid turmoil in the Middle East, helping the precious metal to consolidate its recent rally.
By Friday afternoon, an ounce of bullion was fixed at 301.0 dollars an ounce, against 301.4 dollars a week earlier.
Stephen Briggs, a metals expert at SG Securities, said events in the Middle East had “clearly been one of the main driving forces of this renewed rally.”
SILVER: Silver prices eased slightly after gold came off its highs of the week.
An ounce of silver dipped to 4,6150 dollars on Friday afternoon from 4.6750 the previous week.
PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM: Platinum prices rose to eight-month highs on safe-haven flows and a favourable supply-demand balance, while the outlook for platinum remained dour, analysts said.
BASE METALS: Base metals prices mostly moved lower this week as traders waited for evidence that to firmer demand, and Middle East turmoil nagged at sentiment.
The main story is that base metals have had quite a strong run over the last couple of months on anticipation of stronger economic growth, stronger demand growth and there’s just beth is actually coming through, said Macquarie Bank analyst Adam Rowley.
As far as we can see it is, but perhaps a little bit more slowly than the more bullish players would have liked, he told AFP.
There was also some concern that Middle ek might stunt economic growth, which in turn could dampen demand for the building blocks of economic growth, he added.
The exception was nickel, which gained a boost from an announcement by Russian producer Norilsk Nickel that it was using 60,00 a loan.
That’s been taken as bullish for the market because people had been worried about that stock pile being released and flooding the market with nickel, said Rowley.
The loan runs for three years so that metal could be tied up and hriday, three-month copper prices had fallen to $1,614 a ton from $1,651 the previous week.
Three-month aluminium prices eased to $1,389 a ton from $1,401.
Three-month nickel prices firmed $160 a ton tos shed $18 to $830 a ton, tin rose $120 to $4,120 a ton and lead lost $17 to $480.
OIL: Oil prices spiked above 28 dollars a barrel for the first time in six months as Middle East turmoil and calls for a collective Arab oil embargo raised concerns about disruption to oil supplies from the region.
In New York, May-dated light sweet crude futures were quoted at $26.53 a barrel from $26.31.
Prices jumped as the Israeli army rolled into the West Bank, sparking a new wave of Israeli-PalesIslamic oil producers to cut off supplies to the West.
But US President George W. Bush helped calm the feverish market by announcing a new peace push for the Middle East, urging Israel and the Palestinians to step up peace efforts and sending hiearch of an elusive accord.
Moreover, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which includes both Iran and Iraq, was quick to rule out a collective embargo by the mostly-Arab producer group.
As far as the organisation is c no rational and sane human being would really back such a move, because it will certainly backfire on all of us, an Opec source in Vienna told AFP.
If two or three countries agree to suspend exports, rest assured that there are other produce supply in the market, the Opec source added.
But by Friday afternoon, a barrel of Brent North Sea crut $25.92 the previous week.
That includes Russia, which scaled down its exports by 150,000 barrels from the start of the year, though only after intense lobbying by Opec. Moscow said on Friday it would look at lifting the resices remained well-bid, supported by a firm tone on other commodities markets, traders said.
The Japanese market is leading the way, page being traded up because of some worries in the situation in the Middle East, said Symington trader Rashid Ahmed.
COFFEE: Coffee prices fell back towards the end of the week as expectations of a record Brazilian crop gnawed at sentiment, though not before scaling nine-months highs on speculative buying, traders said.
On LIFFE, thr July delivery eased to $519 a ton from 535 the previous week. Prices rose as high as 543 dollars on Tuesday.
On the CSCE, the New York futures market, Arabica prices for May delivery peaked at 61.45 cents a pound. By Thursday, they teek.
SOYA: Soya prices scaled down from six-month peaks, undermined by favourable, dry weather in Brazilian producer regions.
On the Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT), a bushel of soya for May delivery evious week.
Soyabean meal — used in animal feed — for May delivery sagged to $155.4 a ton from $160.3.
SUGAR: Sugar prices slipped this week and are likely to trade in a narrow corridor until the arrival of theted to bring a new record harvest, traders said.
On the CSCE in New York, a pound of unrefined sugar for May dropped to 5.62 cents from 5.93 cents the previous week.
On the LIFFE market in London, a tonne of white sugar for May delivery fell ilka, a US-based analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, the upcoming Brazilian harvest should increase by 10-15 per cent from last year, itself an unprecedented 18 million tons.
Brazil supplies about half of the world’s commercial sugar, while other eadying robust harvests, he added.
GRAIN: Grain prices receded this week, with wheat coming under particular pressure from fund selling and a drop in US export sales.
In Chicago, a bushel of wheat for May delivery dropped to 280.5 cents from 285.0 cents a week earlier.
A bushel of maize in Chicago for May delivery dipped to 201.5 cents from 202.5 cents.
COTTON: Cotton prices held in a narrow range. In New York, the May contract dipped to 37.75 cents a pound on Thursday from 38.16 cents the previous week.
But the cotton Outlook Index of physical cotton, the average of the world’s lowest prices, was steady at 42.10 cents from 42.15 cents.—AFP
