Oil Gains On Anticipation Of Sanctions On Iran
Oil prices rose on Friday on concern that US sanctions against Iran would remove a substantial volume of crude oil from world markets at a time of rising global demand.
US crude rose 62 cents a barrel to $74.08 by 1:22 p.m. EDT (1722 GMT), on track for a weekly rise of 8.2 percent. The session high of $74.43 was the highest since Nov. 26, 2014. Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 was up $1.54 at $79.39 a barrel after jumping as much as $1.85 to session high of $79.70. Brent was on track for a 5 percent weekly rise.
Iran pumps about 4.7 million barrels per day (bpd), or almost 5 percent of total output, much of it to China and other energy-hungry nations such as India.
The US government hopes other big producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia will boost production to compensate for lost Iranian crude. But unplanned disruptions in Canada, Libya and Venezuela have made the world crude market tight, and many analysts and investors think strict enforcement of U.S. sanctions will push up prices.
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Gold Down, But Oversold And Due For Good Bounce
Gold and silver prices were moderately lower in US trading on Wednesday. Gold hit a six-month low and silver dropped to a seven-week low.
However, the gold market is now well oversold on a near-term technical basis and due for a decent corrective rebound very soon. Also, the big rally in crude oil recently is a solid clue the raw commodity sector has bottomed out and will see better days just ahead. August gold futures were last down $4.30 an ounce at $1,255.50. July Comex silver was last down $0.105 at $16.145 an ounce.
Corn Edges Up Amid Choppy Trade
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures wavered through a choppy day of trading on Wednesday, and ended narrowly up as traders wrestled with mixed signals ahead of two key US government crop reports.
CBOT September corn settled the day up 1/2 cent at $3.61-3/4 a bushel, while new-crop December ended unchanged at $3.73-1/4. The US Energy Information Administration said weekly US output of corn-based ethanol rose to 1.07 million barrels per day, while stocks of the biofuel rose to 21.67 million barrels.
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CBOT Soybean Futures Flat
Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures firmed at times on Wednesday, but the rally evaporated by the end of the day despite the White House announcing it would take a softer approach to Chinese acquisitions of sensitive US technologies.
CBOT August soybeans futures ended the day unchanged at $8.73 a bushel. US President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled a plan on Wednesday for a stronger security review process for foreign investors acquiring American technologies, softening its tone from previous remarks indicating it would specifically block Chinese investments.
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Tocom Rubber Climbs
Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures climbed for a second straight session on Wednesday, moving further away from an about 21-month low hit earlier this week, as surging oil prices boosted risk appetite among investors.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for November delivery finished 1.3 yen, or 0.8 percent, higher at 173.8 yen ($1.58) per kg.
Oil prices rose on a supply disruption in Canada, falling US crude stocks, uncertainty over Libyan exports and after US officials told importers to stop buying Iranian crude from November. A rally in US oil price to above $70 a barrel lent support,” it is said. US oil topped $70 for the first time in two months on Tuesday as Washington pushed allies to halt imports of Iranian crude, which would constrain global supplies.
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Copper Claws Up From 12-Week Lows
Copper recovered from 12-week lows on Wednesday on bargain hunting and consumer buying, but sentiment was still fragile due to persistent fears about the prospect of trade conflicts hitting economic growth.
Tin tumbled to the lowest in nearly six months on concerns about growing supply. Underlying supply/demand fundamentals were largely healthy in most industrial metals, but prices had been undermined by tit-for-tat trade skirmishes, analysts said.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped as low as $6,667 a ton, its lowest since April 4, but moved out of the red and was unchanged at $6,713 by 1002 GMT. LME aluminium gained 0.9 percent to $2,178 a ton after hitting an 11-week low of $2,135 on Tuesday.
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Palm Gains On Forecasts Of Weaker Output, Tracking Related Oils
Malaysian palm oil futures jumped to their highest in over a week on Wednesday evening, supported by forecasts of weaker output and stronger related edible oils.
The market was also earlier supported by a weaker ringgit , palm’s currency of trade which typically makes the tropical oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies. The ringgit fell to its weakest levels against the dollar since the start of the year on Wednesday, and was last down 0.2 percent at 4.0280 ringgit per dollar.
The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.7 percent to 2,315 ringgit ($574.73) per ton at the close of trade, its strongest gains in a day since May 7. It earlier rose to an intraday high of 2,319 ringgit, its strongest levels since June 18. Trading volumes stood at 39,745 lots of 25 tons each at the close of trade.
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EU Wheat Pushed Down By Weak Us Markets, Good French Weather
European wheat fell in light trading on Tuesday, pushed down by falling US prices, favourable crop weather in France and an Egyptian tender purchase that underlined the competitive edge of Russian wheat. December milling wheat, the most active position on the Paris-based Euronext, was down 0.25 euros or 0.1 percent at 177.50 euros ($207.14) a ton at 1522 GMT, after slipping 1.4 percent on Monday.
Chicago wheat extended losses as US harvest progress added to pressure from wider concerns about trade tensions between the United States and China. Egypt bought 120,000 ton of Russian wheat on Tuesday, underlining tough price competition from Black Sea supplies.
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Raw Sugar Slips
Raw sugar futures on ICE fell for the first time in four sessions on Monday, after data showed speculators slightly increased their bearish stance amid abundant global supplies, while London cocoa firmed. October raw sugar settled down 0.09 cent, or 0.7 percent, at 12.32 cents per lb after trading within the prior session’s range.
Buying interest from the previous three sessions waned after US government data released late Friday showed speculators had increased their net short position to a three-week high. Focus also remained on expectations that ample supplies will persist into next season, as a surge in Indian production offsets reduced output from top grower Brazil. August white sugar settled up 60 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $345.10 per ton.