29 Aug 2013
Commodities soar on Syria’s threat
FXstreet.com (Athens) - Commodities rose sharply on Wednesday on military strike jitters, but on Thursday’s opening session seem to move again in a smoother mode.
Brent crude rose on Wednesday to hit a six-month high in the biggest two-day rally since January 2012 as the threat of Western countries involvement in the Syrian conflict stirred concerns over Middle East oil supplies. Brent crude oil futures for October delivery raised $2.25 to settle at $116.61. During the session, Brent hit a six-month high of $117.34. Trading volume was heavy, hitting 870,000 contracts in late afternoon activity, more than 60 percent above the 30-day moving average. Gains in U.S. crude futures lagged Brent, rising $1.09 to settle at $110.10 a barrel. Brent's premium to U.S. crude widened out to more than $6.50 a barrel during the session, breaching the 100-day moving average for the first time since March. Furthermore, oil prices got another boost from U.S. government data showing crude stocks at the key Cushing, Oklahoma, U.S. storage hub fell for the eighth straight week. Total U.S. crude oil stocks rose by 3 million barrels to 362 million barrels, but remained 2.5 million barrels below the level of a year ago.
The spot gold price briefly rose above $1,430 an ounce to a three-and-a-half-month high on Wednesday on safe-having buying as the United States and its allies looked set to launch military strikes on Syria. Silver prices dropped 0.7 percent to $24.30. Today, as Obama blinks, after a parliamentary revolt in the UK against joining the US in such a step, it might be not surprising if commodities move in a soft mode, or mostly driven my data news, especially the US ones.
Brent crude rose on Wednesday to hit a six-month high in the biggest two-day rally since January 2012 as the threat of Western countries involvement in the Syrian conflict stirred concerns over Middle East oil supplies. Brent crude oil futures for October delivery raised $2.25 to settle at $116.61. During the session, Brent hit a six-month high of $117.34. Trading volume was heavy, hitting 870,000 contracts in late afternoon activity, more than 60 percent above the 30-day moving average. Gains in U.S. crude futures lagged Brent, rising $1.09 to settle at $110.10 a barrel. Brent's premium to U.S. crude widened out to more than $6.50 a barrel during the session, breaching the 100-day moving average for the first time since March. Furthermore, oil prices got another boost from U.S. government data showing crude stocks at the key Cushing, Oklahoma, U.S. storage hub fell for the eighth straight week. Total U.S. crude oil stocks rose by 3 million barrels to 362 million barrels, but remained 2.5 million barrels below the level of a year ago.
The spot gold price briefly rose above $1,430 an ounce to a three-and-a-half-month high on Wednesday on safe-having buying as the United States and its allies looked set to launch military strikes on Syria. Silver prices dropped 0.7 percent to $24.30. Today, as Obama blinks, after a parliamentary revolt in the UK against joining the US in such a step, it might be not surprising if commodities move in a soft mode, or mostly driven my data news, especially the US ones.