Archives of Markets - Commodities

1. London copper languishes near 1-1/2 month low, Fed in focus

   2013-06-19 09:05:44 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Asia)

   SINGAPORE: London copper hovered near its lowest since early May on Wednesday, as investors looked to a Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the outlook for a US stimulus programme that has underpinned commodity prices.All eyes are on the two-day Fed meeting which ends on Wednesday with a policy statement and a news conference by Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said in May that stimulus could be scaled...

2. Indian gold futures edge lower; Fed watched

   2013-06-19 08:21:55 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Asia)

   MUMBAI: Indian gold futures edged lower on Wednesday tracking cues from a weak overseas market and as traders eye the US Federal Reserve for direction.Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last month the bank could scale back its $85 billion monthly bond purchases if the US economy strengthens, but a lack of clarity on the timing has unsettled markets. A policy statement from the central bank will be rel...

3. Corn drops after 2-day rally, Fed eyed

   2013-06-19 07:21:04 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Australia)

   SYDNEY: US corn dropped on Wednesday as traders booked profits after a sharp two-day rally, while worries about the Federal Reserve's next policy step also dragged on prices.Wheat fell in line with corn, while soybeans were little changed, drawing support from delays to new-crop plantings."The US dollar is higher, that is weighing on the broader complex ahead of the Fed announcement," said Luk...

4. Iron ore hits 3-week high, weak China steel consumption a cap

   2013-06-19 07:20:28 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Asia)

   SHANGHAI: Spot iron ore prices jumped for a fourth straight day to a three-week high as traders increased buying to lift the market, while weak restocking by Chinese steelmakers and tepid steel consumption are expected to cap the rally for the raw material.The increasing supply glut in China would keep denting steel prices that previously hit nine-month lows, although strong production means that ...

5. US spot gas rises for 2nd day on warm weather, rising futures

   2013-06-18 21:48:26 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

   NEW YORK: US spot natural gas prices rose across the country for a second straight day on Tuesday, boosted by warm weather increasing air-conditioning demand in some regions as well as above-normal nuclear power plant outages.Traders also said cash gas was rising in tandem with a second straight day of gains in the gas futures market, where prices were lifted by forecasts for continued warm weathe...

6. Gold down more than 1 pct on Fed jitters, equities gain

   2013-06-18 21:44:27 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

   NEW YORK/LONDON: Gold fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday as US equities rallied and bullion buyers took to the sidelines before the conclusion of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting they hope will give greater clarity on the outlook for US monetary policy.The metal fell for a second consecutive day - the first time in nearly a month - as its safe-haven appeal was reduced by the rise of US eq...

7. Oil gains moderately, trading sluggish ahead of Fed

   2013-06-18 21:41:46 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

   NEW YORK: Oil prices ended slightly higher on Tuesday in sluggish trading as the market awaited the Federal Reserve's policy statement on Wednesday that is expected to show whether it will reduce its monetary stimulus.The program has been largely supportive of oil prices.Brent oil was off an 11-week high set in the previous session and US crude oil had dropped from a nine-month high.Until the ...

8. Corn ends higher, led by new-crop contracts on US weather

   2013-06-18 21:28:58 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Americas)

   CHICAGO: US corn futures rose on Tuesday, led by deferred contracts on technical buying and forecasts for potentially stressful hot weather in late June, traders said."The thought of any high-pressure ridge - the market is very sensitive to that right now, after what happened last year," said Sterling Smith, futures specialist with Citigroup in Chicago, alluding to the historic Midwest drought tha...

9. Cotton prices fall for 2nd session amid long liquidation

   2013-06-18 21:24:57 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

   NEW YORK: Cotton futures posted a second session of losses on Tuesday as investors booked profits after last week's steep gains, pulling prices back from recent highs.The most-active December cotton contract on ICE Futures US fell 1.67 cents, or 1.9 percent, to settle at 87.32 cents, closing down for a second day.Front-month July futures dropped more steeply, settling down 2.45 cents, or 2.8 p...

10. Gold's slide below wedge formation points to lower targets

    2013-06-18 21:18:19 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

    NEW YORK: Spot gold slipped on Tuesday to a near one-month low of $1,360.54 an ounce to put it below a wedge formation that indicates it could drop below $1,300 an ounce.With gold's fall stopping at $1,360 support, Stephanie Aymes, technical analyst at Societe Generale in London, said in her research note that she sees a month earlier low at $1,354 as a next downside goal.She then projects a l...

11. Gold prices retreat ahead of Fed meeting

    2013-06-18 16:11:25 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

    LONDON: Gold fell on Tuesday as the dollar rose and traders took to the sidelines ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting they hope will give greater clarity on the outlook for US monetary policy.The dollar rose against a basket of currencies, and equity markets held within tight ranges as uncertainty over the future of the US monetary stimulus program kept investors on edge, helping push gold p...

12. Soymeal eases on favourable US crop weather

    2013-06-17 23:38:58 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

    ROTTERDAM: Soymeal on the European meals and feeds market continued to fall on Monday in sympathy with CBOT soymeal futures on forecasts for beneficial planting and growing weather in the US soybean belt."Prices dropped further on good crop weather in the US but it did not create much business on the European cash market as most buyers were holding back waiting for the market to bottom out," one b...

13. Cocoa sinks for third day, ICE sugar inches up after rally

    2013-06-17 23:36:14 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

    NEW YORK/LONDON: Cocoa futures fell on Monday, as technical selling resulted in the market's sharpest three-session drop in more than a year, while ICE sugar futures inched higher in heavy trading.Liffe robusta coffee steadied after recovering from its lowest price since October 2010 while arabica trading on ICE Futures US turned down a shade, recovering from last week's low, its lowest in...

14. Corn jumps 2 percent on soaring cash markets

    2013-06-17 23:32:31 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Americas)

    CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures leaped over 2 percent on Monday, posting the biggest one-day advance in nearly a month on soaring cash corn markets and tight stocks of corn."July (old-crop) is definitely benefiting from the firm cash basis and tight near-term supplies. The western Corn Belt basis is very strong," said Sterling Smith, market specialist for Citigroup.New-crop Dec...

15. Beef demand drives up US live cattle futures

    2013-06-17 23:30:07 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Asia)

    CHICAGO: Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose on Monday driven in part by a five-year high in weekly US beef exports, traders and analysts said.The turnaround in wholesale beef values on Monday also contributed to futures' gains, they said.US Department of Agriculture on Monday reported last week's beef exports at roughly 27,000 tonnes, eclipsing the previous high of around...

16. Gold slips as US equities rise, FOMC in focus

    2013-06-17 23:27:06 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

    NEW YORK/LONDON: Gold fell around 0.5 percent in quiet trade on Monday as a Wall Street rally reduced the need for safe-haven buying and investors awaited this week's US Federal Reserve meeting for signals on the central bank's monetary stimulus plan.Better-than-expected US retail sales and jobs data recently has fueled speculation that the Fed could announce a scaling back of its $85 bill...

17. Brent crude oil dips before US Fed meeting

    2013-06-17 23:08:40 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

    NEW YORK: Brent crude oil futures touched a 10-week high close to $107 a barrel on Monday as tensions in the Middle East rose, but prices finished slightly lower on the day after a late sell-off in US gasoline futures.US crude oil hit a nine-month high near $99 a barrel but also reversed to settle lower, with investors cautious ahead of the start of the US Federal Reserve's two-day policy comm...

18. Metals, oil down ahead of Fed meeting; natgas jumps

    2013-06-17 23:01:10 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

    NEW YORK: Copper closed a touch lower on Monday on concerns the United States may scale back its monetary stimulus program, and oil prices fell after initially rising on fears of a superpower standoff over Syria and possible disruptions to Middle East crude supplies.Gold joined the slide as a rally in Wall Street stocks pulled investors away from safe-haven assets.Investors focused mostly on the U...

19. C$ dips as data boosts greenback before Fed meeting

    2013-06-17 22:57:55 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

    TORONTO: The Canadian dollar softened marginally against the US dollar on Monday with the greenback gathering strength on positive data, but much of the market was sidelined ahead of the two-day US Federal Reserve policy meeting that starts Tuesday.The US currency extended gains after figures showed growth in New York state's manufacturing sector picked up in June, and that sentiment among US ...

20. US cash crude differentials weaken as Brent/US arb narrows

    2013-06-17 22:56:24 GMT : (Markets - Commodities/Europe)

    NEW YORK: Cash crude differentials in the United States weakened on Monday as the transatlantic spread between Brent and US crude futures narrowed and crude futures gave up gains to settle lower.Trading remained thin ahead of the expiration of the front-month US July crude contract this week as traders continued to wind down their purchases of July barrels, brokers and traders said.Brent's pre...