Commodities markets summary
Market watch top headlines
Australian reports
- Aust markets: Aust stocks weaken after consumer reading
- Aust dollar report: $A falls after weak sentiment data
- Aust credit close: Aust bonds slightly weaker
World reports
- World commodities: Commodities markets summary
- World markets: International markets roundup
AAP
2012-06-20
A summary of trading in key commodities markets overseas:
ENERGY
US oil prices have risen, on speculation that the Federal Reserve may be poised to provide more stimulus to prevent the world's largest economy from stalling.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, climbed 83 US cents to $US84.10 a barrel.
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday began another crunch policy meeting under the pall of subpar US jobs growth and a European debt crisis that could slowly squeeze the life out of the global recovery.
Many on Wall Street are betting that the bad news forces the Fed to come to the rescue -- altering its bond portfolio or piling more assets on its already considerably swollen balance sheet.
Meanwhile, Brent North Sea crude for August fell 29 US cents to reach $US95.76 a barrel, as the consumption outlook in Europe continued to look patchy.
PRECIOUS METALS
Gold futures edged lower in tight trading as traders awaited news from the Federal Reserve and European leaders.
The most-actively traded contract, for August delivery, on Tuesday fell 0.2 per cent, or $US3.80, to settle at $US1,623.20 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other precious metals: July delivery silver closed at $US28.368, down 30.3 US cents; July platinum ended at $US1,480.50, down $US3.60; September palladium finished at $US629.40, down $US3.75.
BASE METALS
Base metals have closed mostly higher on the London Metal Exchange (LME), gaining alongside equities and the euro as investors looked to the Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting for signs of further economic stimulus.
At the PM kerb close on Tuesday, LME three-month copper was 1.3 per cent higher at $US7,608 a metric ton. Aluminum lagged the complex, closing 0.1 per cent lower on the day at $US1,925.50/ton.
Broad markets moved higher as investors held on to tentative hopes that the Fed's two-day meeting, which concludes Wednesday, will provide signals that the central bank is prepared to take additional steps to bolster the US economy.
A statement is due from the Federal Reserve Wednesday at 1630 GMT (0230 Thursday AEST)
Any signs of stimulus action by the Fed would likely be well-received by base metal markets Wednesday.
