commodities

Technical Analysis – Commodities summer consolidation extends into September

Posted on September 20, 2016 at 12:39 pm GMT

Despite some large daily moves, commodities have largely stuck to a range during most of the summer as the big rally of the first half of the year has stalled. Among the major commodities, oil has been unable to surpass its June peak, while gold remains one of the most bullish even though it’s been in steady retreat since its July peak. Oil stuck in bearish mode WTI oil futures have been making lower highs since the January-June uptrend was [..]

European Session – Commodities sag as dollar extends gains; pound boosted by BoE survey

Posted on July 20, 2016 at 2:51 pm GMT

Commodity prices fell sharply in today’s European session as the US dollar continued its advance against most major currencies. Sentiment for the US currency appears to have turned bullish in recent days after a run of solid US data put the prospect of a Fed rate hike at some point in 2016 back on the table. The dollar rose to its highest since June 24 against the yen, reaching an intra-day high of 106.71 yen in late European session. This [..]

A brief survival guide to trading FX during Brexit

Posted on June 16, 2016 at 2:03 pm GMT

Next week’s UK referendum on EU membership will be the defining risk event of the first half of the year. As such, market participants are readying themselves for a week of volatility and big moves in major asset classes and across financial markets. Central to this is Foreign Exchange, which is the world’s largest and most liquid market. Therefore, traders may find useful some suggestions of how markets might react in either a “leave” or “remain” outcome. First of all, [..]

European Session – Commodities rally as Fed rate hike hopes fade; Dollar steady ahead of Yellen

Posted on June 6, 2016 at 2:45 pm GMT

Commodities rallied in European trading on Monday as a weaker dollar boosted commodity prices across the board just as market expectations of a Fed rate hike in June fell drastically. The dollar’s slide on Friday following a much weaker-than-expected jobs data has increased sentiment for commodities such as copper, zinc, nickel and iron ore, as well as for oil. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB commodities index was up 1.5% at 192.25 in afternoon European trading, boosted in part by stronger crude [..]

Antipodean currencies soar to 10-month highs as risk appetite returns

Posted on April 19, 2016 at 11:53 am GMT

The Australian and New Zealand dollars soared to 10-month highs on Tuesday as risk appetite made a strong return on steady oil prices. Crude oil prices rebounded sharply on Monday after starting the day 6-7% lower following the failure of major oil producers on Sunday to agree to a freeze in output. Commodity prices have been recovering from their January/February lows, led by a rally in oil prices that was mainly driven by expectations that major oil producers such as [..]

Quarterly Market Review – Q1 2016

Posted on April 5, 2016 at 2:33 pm GMT

The first three months of 2016 saw the unwelcome return of the turbulence that had marred financial markets in the summer of 2015. Equity indices across the globe saw sharp losses accompanied by high volatility. Major currencies were also exposed to unusual fluctuations as safe-haven currencies were back in demand. It was also a busy quarter for central bank activity, particularly from the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. But it was the changing tone of the Fed [..]

Commodity renaissance or a dead cat bounce?

Posted on March 8, 2016 at 3:46 pm GMT

A key theme in the markets lately has been the recovery of various commodity prices. Commodity prices have been falling more or less steadily since late April / early May of 2011. The Thomson Reuters CRB Commodity index for example has rallied 11% since its lows around the middle of February. The closely watched price of oil has put in a much more impressive recovery of almost 50% since it bottomed around $26 a barrel to rise above $38. Together [..]

Stocks up, commodities down and the effects on currency markets

Posted on November 20, 2015 at 2:57 pm GMT

Some analysts have pointed to an interesting dichotomy during the past few days. One the one hand, risk assets such as stocks, have been rallying and the S&P 500 is not far from its all-time high. On the other hand, commodities and particularly metals and energy, are hitting multi-year lows because of a slowdown in global growth and particularly demand from emerging markets. In theory, healthy economic growth should lead both commodities and stocks to move higher. Therefore it can [..]

As AUD/USD retests 0.74, has the Australian dollar bottomed out?

Posted on October 15, 2015 at 10:50 am GMT

The Australian dollar has been depreciating since the spring of 2013 as global commodity prices have tumbled on softening demand, particularly from China. The Australian economy came out of the world financial crisis relatively unscathed as strong demand in China for commodities such as iron ore – Australia’s main export – drove economic growth. But a slowing economy in China, combined with the rout in oil prices and a strong US dollar, has pushed commodity prices to multi-year lows, hitting [..]

Forex News – Commodities and bonds top stocks as best performers of the first half

Posted on July 2, 2014 at 12:49 pm GMT

The end of the second quarter is usually a good chance for investors to check their investment performance versus their benchmarks and the market. In addition, such performance data helps to understand the current financial environment and what the big trends in asset prices are. As the chart shows, the best performing asset during the first 6 months of the year is the precious metal gold. Gold was up by more than 10% since the beginning of the year, but [..]

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