Major Commodities on Global Market

Gold price showed its biggest weekly gain in more than seven months, as the U.S wage growth became slow. The jobless rate increased 4.8%. Bart Melek, head of global commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, said, “The market is convincing itself that wages aren’t going to become a problem. There is really not a big problem the U.S central bank needs to fix right now. The gold market is looking at this and saying there is not a lot pressure to restrict policy at this point.” Gold futures for April settlement gained 0.1% to settle at US$1,220.80 an ounce on the Comex in New York.

Oil price gained for last three weeks, as the U.S imposed sanction on Iran after an Iranian missile test. The restriction was announced by Donald Trump to punish Tehran for its ballistic missile program. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its output by 840,000 barrels a day last month. Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research in Massachusetts, stated, “This is a knee-jerk reaction. Whenever there are headlines that have something to do with the Persian Gulf you will see a response in the market.” West Texas Intermediate for March settlement jumped 29 cents to settle at US$53.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent for April delivery increased 25 cents or 0.4% and settled at US$56.81 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.