NEW YORK, May 25 (FintechZoom): Commodities Market Roundup 25 May 2022:
Energy
The energy price cap has received a great deal of attention in recent weeks, with much of the news surrounding the cap relating to rising fuel costs for households across Wales and throughout the UK.
As soon as summer ends, experts predict that the cost of the living crisis gripping the nation will worsen even further. The cap on energy prices has left some people scratching their heads and wondering what it means and why it is rising?
Households on default tariffs that pay by direct debit have a price cap of £1,971 as of April 2017 – the first cap set since the start of the year. In October, the energy regulator Ofgem predicted this would rise to about £2,800 as winter approaches, and it gets colder.
Brent
On Wednesday, oil prices climbed amid tight supplies and robust activity from US refiners after the Coronavirus pandemic. The July Brent crude futures increased by 48 cents to $114.03 per barrel
A strong upward trend in Brent crude is accompanied by very tight product markets, driving the search for light sweet crudes that can be easily refined into gasoline and diesel, Swedish bank SEB said in a report.
Crude oil
For July, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude delivery increased by 49 cents, or 0.4%, to $110.26 a barrel.
US crude stockpiles dropped by 1 million barrels last week, and gasoline inventories decreased slightly. Stocks of distillates rose by 1.7 million barrels. With refining at 93.2%, refiners increased capacity to use for the first time since December 2019.
As refined product exports soared above 6.2 million barrels per day last week, refiners have been running at full capacity to meet the heavy demand, especially abroad. US gasoline stocks have been reduced due to high exports and a reduction in refining capacity.
Natural gas
Prices for natural gas hit the highest level in over a decade Wednesday, pushing prices above $9 per million British thermal units. The price of US natural gas inched up to $9.399 per MMBtu at one point, the highest since August 2008. Natural gas markets have been reeling in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has sent prices soaring.
Argus Media’s director of natural gas and power services for North America, David Givens, cites three factors fueling the rally: low production growth, high liquid natural gas exports, and storage levels 17% below the five-year average.
Precious metals
Research analysts at Northland Securities raised A-Mark Precious Metals’ price objective from $110.00 to $120.00. This morning, gold is trading around $1,850, down 0.8%. Prices for silver, platinum, and palladium are all lower. As a result, this morning’s precious metal prices are lower.
Gold
This morning, there is a 0.8% decline in gold prices as it trades near $1,850. Despite bouncing back from the beginning of the week to a new low of $1,785.00, the market retraced more of the recent downtrend. Recent gold price movements have been retraced to strengthen the US dollar and fear further Fed monetary policy tightening. Since then, it has been fluctuating between $1,800 and $1,900 for months. It is trading backward this morning after advancing yesterday.
Agriculture
The American and French weather forecasts are improving, resulting in better planting progress next week. There is a 13-cent drop in corn today. There is also a 17 to 22 cent drop in soybeans. There is also a 30-cent drop in CBOT wheat. In KC wheat, prices have decreased by 37 cents, while in spring wheat, they have dropped by 30 cents. Futures for cattle are higher this morning. Feeder cattle gained 60 cents during the same period, and live cattle gained 17 cents.
Corn
Despite further negative trades, the corn price continued to advance towards the 749.90 level. It attempts to hold below it, which confirms our bearish view for the remainder of the day, opening the way to approach our next correction target at 731.60, considering that consolidation below 749.90 represents the initial condition to extend the expected decline. Today, we expect a trading range between 740.00 support and 760.00 resistance.
