Oil prices rebound, gold firms

FE Team | Published: April 12, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

LONDON, Apr 11 (AFP): Oil prices rebounded and gold firmed last week as markets reacted to geopolitical concerns and the outlook for interest rates in the United States.
OIL: Crude prices rose, supported by concerns over Iran's nuclear deal that helped to offset worries about a US supply glut according to analysts.
"Geopolitical factors remain a constant worry for investors with concerns regarding Iran's nuclear programme potentially leading to ongoing volatility in the crude oil market," said Kash Kamal, senior research analyst at Sucden brokerage.
Analysts attributed steep gains at the start of the week to investors concluding that the nuclear framework agreed between Iran and international powers will have a minimal near-term effect on global crude supplies.
The deal Tehran agreed with the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia plus Germany paves the way for the Islamic republic to curtail its nuclear activity in exchange for relief from punishing economic sanctions, including on oil investment.
But Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group, this week said that rising imports of US crude oil could indicate improved demand prospects in the world's largest oil consumer or concerns about supply tightening.
By Friday on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May jumped to $56.84 a barrel from $54.80 on Thursday of the previous week when trading stopped earlier than usual for Easter.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate or light sweet crude for May climbed to $50.80 compared with $49.29.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold rose slightly, with support coming from the fact that it is regarded by investors as a safe bet in times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
"Gold is putting up some resistance against the surging dollar," said analysts at PVM brokers in a note to clients.
By Friday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold firmed to $1,207.35 an ounce from $1,198.50 on Thursday of the previous week.
Silver fell to $16.55 an ounce from $16.84.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rose to $1,171 an ounce from $1,154.
Palladium increased to $777 an ounce from $751.
BASE METALS: Base or industrial metals diverged as traders assessed the growth outlook for China.
"The lack of clarity on China's future demand appears to be leading to swings in investor sentiment," said Capital Economics research group.
China's consumer inflation held steady at 1.4 per cent in March, the government said Friday, amid a broad slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.
Earlier this year the central People's Bank of China cut benchmark interest rates for the second time in three months, citing "historically low inflation", as the country's economy grows at is slowest annual pace in nearly a quarter of a century.
SUGAR: Prices firmed after recently trading close to near six-year lows.
By Thursday on LIFFE, London's futures exchange, a tonne of white sugar for delivery in May gained to $366.10 from $361.10 a week earlier.
On ICE Futures US, unrefined sugar for May increased to 12.81 US cents a pound from 12.46 US cents.
COCOA: Futures rebounded.
"Ideas of at least a little bit of economic recovery provided some support as did signs of better demand" from Europe, said Jack Scoville, analyst at Price Futures Group.
By Friday on LIFFE, cocoa for delivery in July climbed to £1,974 a tonne from £1,931 on Thursday of the previous week.
On the ICE Futures US exchange, cocoa for July rose to $2,804 a tonne from $2,749.
COFFEE: Prices edged higher over the week.
By Friday on ICE Futures, Arabica for delivery in May rose to 136.70 US cents a pound from 134.80 cents on Thursday of the previous week.
On LIFFE, Robusta for May gained to $1,799 a tonne from $1,751.
RUBBER: Prices fell on weak demand.
By Friday, the Malaysian Rubber Board's benchmark SMR20 dropped to 136.90 US cents a kilo from 140.75 US cents a week earlier.