Strengthening Dollar/Weak Chinese Data Continue to Weigh on Commodities It was another difficult week for base/precious metals, as the U.S. dollar continues to strengthen, and economic data out of China continues to disappoint. In particular, gold slid further towards $1,100 per ounce, although some commentators argue the slide is less than what would be expected… Continue Reading
Friday Plunge in Gold Price After Better-Than-Expected U.S. Job Numbers The price of gold plunged on Friday after better-than-expected U.S. jobs figures, with the country’s economy expanding by 295,000 jobs in February compared to 239,000 in January, while the unemployment rate fell to 5.5% from 5.7%. Gold fell $32 on Friday, and finished at $1,167… Continue Reading
Copper Continues Rebound on Positive Manufacturing Data This week saw the continued rise in the copper price after the red metal dropped as low as $2.42 per pound in early January. The early year decline was exacerbated by a dramatic ~8% decline over two sessions, marking the lowest price of copper since July 2009. However,… Continue Reading
Gold Dips Below $1,200 As “Grexit” Concerns Ease On Friday, euro zone finance ministers drafted an agreement that could see Greece’s financial rescue package extended; however, there are still significant hurdles to any agreement, with Greece’s biggest creditor, Germany, demanding “significant improvements” to reform commitments by the leftist Greek government. The draft comes as the… Continue Reading
Does Early-Year M&A Activity Signal Market Bottom? A recent spate of friendly M&A deals announced since the start of the year raises the question: Do these deals signify the beginning of the end of a bear market that has lingered for over 3 years? These M&A deals also coincide (but are not necessarily related to)… Continue Reading
Gold falls as Oil undergoes biggest two week rally in almost two decades The price of gold slumped on Friday following positive job data out of the U.S.; non-farm payroll figures showed 257,000 jobs were added in January; well ahead of the 228,000 forecast, and higher than December’s 252,000. Despite the unemployment rate rising slightly… Continue Reading
Concerns over EU Economy Grow as Greece Elects Anti-Austerity Government News for the week was dominated by the election of the left-wing Syriza party in Greece, whose election platform centred on anti-austerity rhetoric, concerning EU leaders. It was a decisive victory for the hardline party, falling just two seats short of an outright majority; shortly… Continue Reading
Gold Touches $1,300 Barrier as Canada Cuts Interest Rate Gold continued its rise during the week (up 1%), briefly breaching the $1,300 per ounce mark before settling at $1,293 per ounce on Friday, this coincided with the Bank of Canada unexpectedly lowering its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.75, which follows a… Continue Reading
Gold/Silver Prices Continue To Surge While Base Metals Continue To Stumble There is a sense of déjà vu for early 2015, where the rise in precious metal prices reflects the early year surge experienced in 2014. In January last year, the price of gold rose 3.5% during the month, after falling 28% during the 2013… Continue Reading
Gold Price/Mining Equities Surge in New Year The New Year has begun on a positive note, with both the gold price and mining equities gaining ground after what was a tumultuous 2014. The gold price and mining equities surged on the back of slightly negative factory data from the U.S., although other macroeconomic indicators, including… Continue Reading
Political Maneuvers Capture Headlines This Week – Zambia and Cuba This week was highlighted by a slew of political headlines from various jurisdictions related to policy shift or regulatory change, each having implications for it’s respective domestic mining sector. Zambia was the latest Nation to move to increase its revenue streams from domestic resources mining,… Continue Reading
Oil Price/Equities Tumble Further as U.S. Economy Surges The price of WTI crude and light crude dropped below the US$60 per barrel support level during the week, with WTI crude finishing at US$57.48 (down 14%) per barrel on Friday. The price of WTI crude has dropped >40% since June, as a supply glut continues to… Continue Reading
India Relax Gold Import Restrictions While China Considers Similar Policy There was good news for gold this week, with the Indian government surprisingly removing restrictions on gold imports which required 20% of all gold imports to be exported before any new shipments could be brought in. Given speculation that the government may tighten import rules,… Continue Reading
No Respite: Metal/Oil Prices Tumble Further This week’s market headlines were dominated by the dramatic fall in oil prices after the OPEC refrained from lowering production limits of crude oil. Already under pressure, WTI crude fell to US$66 (down 14%) per barrel after Friday market close. Precious and base metal prices followed a similar… Continue Reading
China Interest Rate Cut Sends Mining Equities/Commodities Higher Mining equities and commodities were on Friday after China cut its interest rate for the first time in over two years, and European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi reiterated the banks readiness to expand its stimulus program. The cut in interest rates in China was… Continue Reading
