World oil prices rise about 3pc
Oil prices rose about 3 percent on Friday on upbeat US jobs data and signs that US sanctions on Venezuelan exports have helped tighten supply, then extending gains after weekly data showed US drillers cut the number of oil rigs.
Brent crude oil futures rose $1.91 a barrel, or 3.14 percent, to settle at $62.75 a barrel. The international benchmark notched a weekly gain of about 1.9 percent. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures ended the session at $55.26, up $147 a barrel or 2.73 percent and gained about 3 percent on the week.
Prices climbed to session highs after General Electric Co’s Baker Hughes energy services firm reported that US energy firms cut the number of operating oil rigs for a fourth week in the past five, bringing the count to the lowest in eight months. Last week’s data showed the rig count in January fell the most in a month since April 2016.
Oil prices got a boost from Wall Street after surprisingly strong U.S. job growth data fed demand for equities. Washington imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s Petróleos de Venezuela SA this week, keeping tankers stuck at ports. On Friday, the US Treasury Department provided details.
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CBOT wheat may edge up to $5.22
CBOT March wheat may break a resistance at $5.19-3/4 per bushel and edge up to the next resistance at $5.22, as suggested by a retracement analysis. These resistances are identified respectively as the 50 percent and the 61.8 percent retracements of the downtrend from $5.29 to $5.10-3/4.
The rise from the Jan. 29 low of $5.10-3/4 is temporarily categorized as a bounce towards the downtrend, unless it could extend above $5.22. The bounce is driven by a wave e, which is likely to peak around $5.22. A break below $5.17-1/2 could cause a loss into the range of $5.13-1/4 to $5.15. On the daily chart, signals are in bulls’ favour as wheat has broken a falling trendline. The fall from the Jan. 24 high of $5.29 could be a pullback towards this line.
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Palm oil still targets 2,256-2,274 Ringgit range
Malaysian palm oil still targets a range of 2,256-2,274 ringgit per tonne, as its correction from the Jan. 28 high of 2,333 ringgit has not completed. The correction was triggered by a resistance at 2,322 ringgit, the 276.4 percent projection level on an uptrend from 1,979 ringgit.
Three waves make up the correction. The third wave labelled c is capable of travelling into the target zone. On the daily chart, the contract seems to be falling towards 2,246 ringgit, after failing to overcome a barrier at 2,321 ringgit, the 76.4 percent projection level of a downward wave (C) from 2,896 ringgit. A break above 2,322 ringgit could lead to a gain to 2,351 ringgit (first chart).
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China iron ore, coking coal jump
China’s iron ore and coking coal futures rose sharply in early trade on Friday, buoyed by supply disruption issues and as optimism about a Sino-U.S. trade deal lifted overall investor sentiment in Asia.
A Chinese trade delegation in Washington said the latest round of talks with the United States made “important progress” for the current stage, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensive trade deal as Trump and his top trade negotiator both cited substantial progress in two days of high-level talks. The most traded iron ore for May delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose as much as 4.7 percent to 612 yuan ($90.96) a tonne, its highest in 17 months and extending its rally into a seventh session ahead of next week’s Lunar New Year holiday.
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Vietnam coffee shipments seen halted on holiday; Indonesia trade quiet
Coffee shipments from Vietnam are expected to fall sharply next week on the Lunar New Year holiday, while trade in Indonesia will continue to be quiet on empty stock and won’t pick up until March.
Farmers in the Central Highlands sold coffee at 32,400-33,600 dong ($1.41-$1.46) per kg on Thursday, down from a range of 32,600-33,800 dong a week earlier. Traders in Vietnam offered 5 percent black and broken grade 2 robusta at a $50 per tonne discount to the March contract, compared with $60-$70 discount last week. Farmers in the Central Highlands, the country’s largest coffee growing area, have sold more than 50 percent of their newly harvested beans of the 2018-19 crop year, traders said. Data released by the government’s General Statistics Office on Tuesday showed coffee exports from Vietnam in January will likely fall 19.1 percent from a year earlier to 175,000 tonnes. Last week, traders forecast January coffee shipments would total 200,000 tonnes.
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Dovish Fed helps propel copper to seven-week high
Copper prices hit seven-week highs on Thursday as the dollar slipped after the US central bank signalled further interest rate rises could be shelved, but gains were capped by shrinking activity in China’s manufacturing sector. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.6 percent at $6,175 a tonne at 1118 GMT. Earlier the metal, used widely in power and construction, touched $6,182 a tonne, its highest since Dec. 13.
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Nickel hits 3-month high
Nickel prices rose to a three-month high on Wednesday as investors worried that one of the world’s largest producers, Brazilian miner Vale , could curtail supply in an already tight market.
Benchmark nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed up 1.9 percent at $12,350 a tonne.
The stainless steel ingredient hit more than two-year lows on Jan. 2 as concerns over slowing economic growth in China cut demand expectations, but it has since rallied around 17 percent as supply deficits reduce exchange inventories. Iron ore and nickel producer Vale on Wednesday said it would sacrifice production for safety after a tailings dam burst in Brazil last week, killing at least 84 people. The news pushed Chinese iron ore futures to their highest in nearly 17 months and stirred the nickel market.