Oil retreats from $70 highs but set for fourth week of gains
Oil prices fell on Friday after hitting a three-year high of more than $70 a barrel the previous day, but they were still on track to post a fourth straight week of gains.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 traded 55 cents lower at $68.71 a barrel at 1253 GMT. The contract broke above $70 on Thursday for the first time since December 2014. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $63.14 a barrel, down 66 cents. WTI the day before rose to its strongest since late 2014 at $64.77.
Analysts and traders have warned about the risk of a price correction since the start of 2018, but they say overall market conditions remain strong, mainly due to output cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia.
In addition to the OPEC and non-OPEC production cuts of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) that are due to last until the end of 2018, oil prices have found support from eight consecutive weeks of U.S. crude inventory drops.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Coal India gains 7pc on revision of non-coking coal prices
Share price of Coal India rose 7.7 percent during the day as the company has revised its non-coking coal prices. The company is it meeting held on January 8 has approved revision of non-coking coal prices effective from January 9.
The revised prices would be applicable to all subsidiaries of Coal India including NEC (North Eastern Coalfields). Due to the revision, the company will earn an approximately incremental revenue of Rs 1,965 crore for the balance period of financial year 2017-18. The projected annual incremental revenue would be Rs 6,421 crore. The share ended with a gain of 5.63 percent at Rs 304.05 on Tuesday. The share touched its 52-week high Rs 332.10 and 52-week low Rs 234.00 on 27 February, 2017 and 11 August, 2017, respectively.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Copper to keep its shine on upbeat outlook for industrial demand
Copper is having a steadier new year after finishing 2017 with a strong rally. As hopes for synchronised economic growth in the year ahead rise, there is a brighter outlook for industrial demand for base metals.
That will be one of the main reasons why copper will continue to shine. It has introduced a $7,700 a tonne price target on copper for the middle of 2018. That comes with the red metal trading at about $7,115. There are enormous renovation needs in developed countries, says the French bank in analysis looking at the top 10 investment themes for 2018.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Palm drops on stronger ringgit
Malaysian palm oil futures fell over 1 percent in early trade on Thursday, as a stronger ringgit and overnight falls in soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade weighed on the market. Gains in the ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, usually makes the tropical oil more expensive for foreign buyers.
The ringgit had strengthened 0.4 percent to 3.9880 per dollar by noon. The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 1.1 percent at 2,594 ringgit ($650.45) a tone at the midday break.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
[ads1]
CBOT wheat rises on technical buying ahead of USDA data
Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed modestly higher on Wednesday on technical buying and short-covering ahead of key reports from the US Department of Agriculture, traders said. Analysts expect the USDA on Friday to show a drop in US winter wheat seedings compared to a year ago. Rallies capped by strong competition for export business amid plentiful world wheat supplies.
CBOT March soft red winter wheat settled up 2 cents at $4.34-1/4 a bushel, pushing through resistance at its 50-day moving average near $4.32. K.C. March hard red winter wheat ended up 1-1/2 cents at $4.40-1/2 a bushel while MGEX March spring wheat rose 3-1/4 cents at $6.34.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Nigeria’s NNPC tenders to buy more gasoline
Nigerian state oil company NNPC has issued a tender to buy up to 1.55 million tons of gasoline from January to April in its latest effort to stave off shortages that have recently plagued Africa’s most populous nation.
The tender, which was issued on Monday afternoon and closed on Tuesday, sought 42 cargoes of gasoline, each 37,000 tons, on top of the volumes NNPC is taking via ongoing crude-for-product swap contracts. Traders said the call for cargoes went only to the companies holding the swap contracts, dubbed direct sale, direct purchase agreements (DSDP). NNPC is asking for pre-delivery of the gasoline, with payment up to 45 days after delivery in either cash or crude oil.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Global coffee output seen rising to new record
World coffee output is seen rising to a fresh record in 2017/18 as a recovery in robusta production offsets a decline in the arabica variety, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) said on Tuesday.
Global coffee output is expected to reach about 158.8 million 60-kg bags in 2017/18, up 0.7 percent from last season’s record production, the ICO said in a monthly report. Arabica coffee production is seen falling to 97.3 million bags, down 1.1 percent from the 2016/17 season. That is partly due to a 6.7 percent drop in Brazil’s arabica output to 38.63 million bags. After five years of expansion, Colombian production is also expected to fall 4.3 percent to 14 million bags, as heavy rains caused damage to the trees during flowering, the ICO said. Global coffee consumption is forecast to rise to 157.6 million bags in 2017/18, up from 155.1 million bags in 2016/17, the ICO said.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Gold, silver trade flat
Gold and silver were trading on a flat note in early deals on Thursday on account of subdued demand of precious metals from jewellers, industries and retailers.
MCX Gold futures were down 0.06 percent, or Rs 18, at Rs 29,306 per 10 gram at around 10.40 am (IST), while MCX Silver futures were down 0.03 per cent, or Rs 13, at Rs 38,979 per 1 kg at around the same time. However, brokerages believe that the yellow metal may continue to trade higher on Thursday. Experts said, “Bullion counter may trade on positive path as weaker greenback and US initial jobless claim data to give further dire.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Defra milk production revised upwards for 2017
Defra has republished milk production figures for every month in 2017, showing an increase in volumes across the board. The revised figures added an extra 332m litres of milk to the total UK production volume between January and October last year, an increase of 2.7 percent on what was originally published. Cumulative production for the current season between April and November 2017 is now 9,860m litres, 2.8 percent higher than initially thought. The revision had a marginal positive impact on UK farmgate milk prices, with the only major change coming with the October 2017 average increasing by 0.18p/litre to 31.79p/litre.