Commodities News

  Natural gas prices declined on Tuesday, where expectations of above than normal temperatures in Eastern U.S. through April 26, pushed natural gas prices lower, which sparked speculations that inventories will continue to rise over the course of the upcoming period, which will keep natural gas prices under pressure.

  Inflation threats in the world pressured investors to continue on saturating the prices of gold after dropping from record highs of $1,476.30 an ounce. Gold fell early Tuesday trading to a low of $1,453.65 an ounce before returning to trade above the opening levels of 1,462.90 an ounce. Further appreciation is expected as inflation accelerated in Europe, where Germany CPI index showed that the cost of living increased by 2.3% in March from a year earlier, according to the EU Harmonized index. Further confirmation in regards of inflation will arrive Friday at 09:00 GMT when the Euro-Area releases its CPI index for March that may witness another rise in prices, due to higher cost of energy. The rise in the euro is expected to be maintained this week, accordingly the dollar will fall and thus sending commodities higher due to the inverse relationship between the two. Nonetheless, a correctional move will be forced upon the metal by traders as they take advantage of elevated...

Stocks & Commodities Gold and corn hit record highs on Monday, silver touched its highest in 31 years, lead hit a three-year peak and U.S. crude traded at its strongest in two and a half years as investors sought protection from inflation and fretted about supply. After rallying to a record high of $1,476.21 an ounce in early trade, spot gold eased back to $1,474.90, up $2.20 on the day, while silver traded 5 cents short of its 31-year peak at $41.93 struck earlier. Brent crude fell by over a dollar after the African Union said Muammar Gaddafi had accepted a roadmap for ending civil war, including an immediate ceasefire. U.S. crude for May delivery rose 23 cents to $113.02 a barrel and earlier touched $113.46, its highest in more than two and a half years. U.S. corn futures jumped 2 percent to a record on thinning stockpiles in top exporter the United States, as traders raised doubts about a government report that kept...

  Natural gas prices rose on Monday for the first time in a week, where natural gas prices dropped throughout last week, marking the worst losing streak in more than seven months, where above than normal temperatures in Eastern U.S. pushed natural gas prices lower. Nevertheless, we should expect natural gas prices to remain under pressure over the course of this week.

  Natural gas prices rose on Monday for the first time in a week, where natural gas prices dropped throughout last week, marking the worst losing streak in more than seven months, where above than normal temperatures in Eastern U.S. pushed natural gas prices lower. Nevertheless, we should expect natural gas prices to remain under pressure over the course of this week.

  Crude oil prices dropped after rising earlier on Monday to the highest level since September 2008 at $113.43 a barrel, as news emerged that the African Union made progress in peace talks with Libya. The situation in Libya is still unclear yet, where despite reports suggesting that peace talks are in progress, Colonel Gaddafi’s troops are still attacking rebels, and accordingly, we should still be careful over the outlook for oil, where the upside potential is still likely, given that the political unrest continues further.

  Inflation threats in the world pressured investors to continue on saturating the prices of gold to reach a record high of 1,476.30 an ounce, while a big correctional move is expected to ease of pressure on the metal’s price. Gold is expected to drop severely to return and trade near 1,420.0 an ounce and probably extend its drop to 1,400.0 and 1,390.0 as investors take advantage of elevated prices and seek profits. Nonetheless, a failure to breach 1,445.0 an ounce would pave the path for the metal to target 1,480.0 and then 1,500.0 an ounce as inflation reports will arrive from Germany, UK, and the Euro Zone. The German consumer price index will be released Tuesday at 06:00 GMT with expectations that the final March reading remained unchanged at 0.5% and at 2.1 percent over the year. Furthermore, the CPI EU Harmonized index is expected to remain at 0.5% and 2.2% over the monthly and yearly basis respectively. UK inflation levels continue to...

Euro Initial support is at 1.4243 (Apr 7 low) followed by 1.4208 (Apr 6 low). Initial resistance is located at 1.4512 (Jan 15 2010 high) followed by 1.4561 (1.2867 plus 1.2588-1.4282) Yen Initial support is located at 84.51 (Dec 51 low) followed by 84.03 (Apr 5 low). Initial resistance is at 85.62 (50% retrace of 94.99-76.25) followed by 86.00 (Big Figure Resistance). Cable Initial support is located at 1.6257 (Apr 6 low) followed by 1.6091 (Apr 5 low). Initial resistance is at 1.6458 (Jan 19, 2010 high) followed by 1.6516 (Dec 7 2009 high). Australian Dollar Initial support is near 1.0412 (Apr 7 low) followed by the 1.0315 (Apr 6 low). Initial resistance is located at 1.0640 (0.8771 plus 1.618 of 0.8067-0.9222) followed by 1.1023 (61.8% retrace of 1.4885-0.4776). Gold Initial support is at 1447 (Mar 24 high) followed by 1430 (Apr 5 low). Initial resistance is at 1477 (1308.25 plus 0.618 of 1157.03-1431.25) followed by 1480 (Big Figure). Oil Initial support is located at 110.00 (Intraday Support) followed by 108.00...

By Jonah S. Ford As the value of the US Dollar once again swooned on the foreign exchange markets ahead of anticipated government shutdown (averted at the last minute, and well after the markets closed on Friday), precious metals surged once again. Gold closed out the first trading week of April near all-time highs, while Silver futures breached the $40 level for the first time since 1980, placing it within a stone’s throw of the all-time high near $52.00 per ounce Trailing behind, but not by much, the platinum group metals are finding strength on the gold and silver rally as well. Though the difference in price between the value of platinum and gold has narrowed considerable on this last rally in gold, the overall strength in the metals complex has many speculators eyeing Platinum futures to challenge the previous highs set in 2008 above $2,000 per ounce. Platinum has been establishing a base near the $1,800 per ounce level, bringing the price...

  Natural gas prices took a downside trend last week after the EIA report for natural gas inventories showed inventories declined below expectations, which put downside pressure on natural gas prices, while expectations of warmer than normal weather conditions continued to push natural gas prices lower, where expectations show that temperatures will be higher than normal for this time of the year. The general trend for natural gas prices remain to the downside, accordingly, we should expect natural gas prices to drop further over the course of the week. Highlights for this week that will probably affect the Natural Gas direction are: Thursday, 14:30, The EIA will release the weekly natural gas storage change for the week ending April 8, where the prior report showed that natural gas inventories declined by 45 billion cubic feet.