Commodities

Crude Oil Gushes Higher On Russia, Saudi Agreement

The price of oil has surged higher at the start of the new trading week. This has helped to lift energy stocks and also underpin commodity currencies such as the Canadian dollar (FXC, quote).

Gold Up As Dollar Stalls Ahead Of US CPI, Retail Sales

The dollar buying witnessed at the start of the week was driven by rising expectations about a June rate hike following last week’s FOMC statement and a solid US monthly jobs report.

Commodities

Commodities price are firmer today with base and especially precious metals ending a bad run off losses, while crude oil has extended its gains from the day before when it rallied sharply on the back of the weekly US oil inventories report.

Crude Oil Remains Downbeat

Market participants in crude oil are continuing to shrug off persistent jawboning from oil ministers of some OPEC countries, most notably Saudi Arabia, about extending the production cuts into the second half of 2017, and possibly the first quarter of 2018.

Stopping Volume Appears On The Daily Oil Chart

Last week was an interesting one for oil traders (USO, quote) and speculators, as crude oil continued to move lower from Monday to Thursday, before bouncing strongly on Friday and closing in positive territory for the day, with a deep wicked candle on the daily chart and associated with high volume.

SLV Silver

There seems to be no end in sight just yet for silver, which continues to remain beaten down and unloved, and dragging its more illustrious cousin gold down with it.

Silver and Gold Take Different Paths

Whilst gold and silver have a relatively close relationship in terms of associated price action, in the last few weeks these relatively close bedfellows have diverged somewhat, with silver continuing the bearish sentiment initiated in mid April, whilst gold pauses and reflects, with neither metal appearing to benefit greatly from recent weakness in the US dollar (UUP, quote).

It’s A Tough Life For OPEC!

The recent rally for crude oil, came to a shuddering halt this week with Wednesday’s wide spread down candle driving oil prices firmly back towards the $50 per barrel region, and wiping out much of the gains of the last few weeks.

China Consumer Spending Set To Power Future Growth

The free-spending younger generation is fueling China’s transition from an export-led economy to one driven by domestic consumption.

Crude In Risk Of Correction But Outlook Still Bullish

Both oil contracts have bounced back a little after Thursday’s sharp plunge. The all-time high crude stockpile levels in the US is the number one reason behind oil’s inability to move further higher in recent weeks.