The Italian steel distribution network faces a shake-up from ArcelorMittal's efforts to meet its anti-trust obligations to acquire steelmaker Ilva.The European Commission (EC) EC has requested the "sale availability" of four ArcelorMittal CLN Distribuzione Italia (AM CLN) steel service centers (SSCs), Cesare Vigan??, the managing director of ArcelorMittal CLN Distribuzione Italia (AM CLN), said."T...Read More
Dollar Closes at Highest Level This YearThe U.S. dollar index scored a tremendous gain, breaking above resistance and closing at the highest price point of 2018. Gaining almost 3/4 of a percent on the day, the dollar gained 0.679 points and closed at 95.025. Today's close is above all previous highs achieved throughout this year. On May 29, the dollar closed at 94.79, and on June 14 the dollar...Read More
(Reuters) - Rating agency Moody’s Investor Service said on Wednesday a strengthening US dollar since mid-April has increased the credit risk of several emerging markets due to currency depreciation.A Moody’s report said a strong dollar would also lead to a drop in foreign exchange reserves of countries such as Argentina, Ghana, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Zambia.Chile, C...Read More
(Kitco News) - Kitco aficionados, it is now time to have your say in where you think gold prices are heading in the short-term.Will gold prices go higher, lower or remain unchanged next week? Kitco readers will have until 9 a.m. EDT, Friday to cast their vote. The results will be tabulated and released after noon (12 PM EDT) along with the results from our market professional survey.Readers can al...Read More
(Reuters) - The effects of U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs and tighter mortgage rules will “figure prominently” in the Bank of Canada’s July decision on interest rates, Governor Stephen Poloz said on Wednesday.In a speech promising increased transparency from the central bank in an age of economic uncertainty, Poloz said there is “a litany of things we simply do not know&rd...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for U.S.-made capital goods and shipments unexpectedly fell in May, but upward revisions to data for the prior month pointed to moderate growth in business spending on equipment in the second quarter.Other reports on Wednesday showed a sharp narrowing in the goods trade deficit last month, the latest indication that the economy was accelerating this quarter after...Read More
(Kitco News) - Investors should not buy the dip in the commodity sector as price performance is skewed to the downside for the rest of the year, said Barclays Commodities Research.The main drivers keeping commodities prices at bay are deleveraging in China and weakening synchronous global growth, Barclays said in a recent research report. “The commodity rally that ensued in April has stal...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices were moderately lower in early-afternoon U.S. trading Wednesday. Gold hit a six-month low and silver dropped to a seven-week low today. However, the gold market is now well oversold on a near-term technical basis and due for a decent corrective rebound very soon. Also, the big rally in crude oil recently is a solid clue the raw commodity sector has bottomed ou...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold futures have fallen to levels that suggest an “oversold” market in the near term, yet technically oriented traders would still like to see some chart sign of a reversal higher.One measure that traders watch to see if the market has absorbed too much selling - meaning potential for at least a short-term bounce - is the Relative Strength Index. As of Wednesday mornin...Read More
Futures speculators may well have flipped to a net-short, or bearish, position in gold, says Commerzbank. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission releases a report each Friday showing the positioning of various categories of market participants as of the prior Tuesday. The last “disaggregated” CFTC report showed that money managers were net-long, or bullish, by only 10,528 contracts a...Read More
Editor's Note: Welcome to Kitco's new Bitcoin Daily Technical Alert. Every trading day veteran Kitco technical analyst Jim Wyckoff will provide you with a concise and easy-to-understand near-term technical brief on Bitcoin. Importantly, Jim will glean the short-term charts and technical studies, and then alert you to the signals he sees regarding upcoming potential bigger price moves or price tren...Read More
Gold is lower again this morning. Some believe the trade wars are influencing the precious metals, which could be an underlying reason. However, markets really don't care about the news, trade wars or anything else. They are driven by human emotion. Gold and other markets don't trade by themselves; humans make the trade. Many will argue that high-frequency algorithm trades control price, but the a...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday June 27.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange rebounded in late trading after ending mostly lower at the 5 pm close on Tuesday June 26, weakened by volatile trade relations between the United States and other major economies. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of t...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday June 27.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange rebounded in late trading after ending mostly lower at the 5 pm close on Tuesday June 26, weakened by volatile trade relations between the United States and other major economies. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of t...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange ended mostly higher at the close of trading on Wednesday June 27, with nickel and zinc prices making a slight recovery from recent lulls while copper and tin prices continue to drift. Falling 0.3% over the afternoon, copper's three-month price closed at a three-month low, ending below $6,700 per tonne for the first time since March 28. The red metal ha...Read More
A lingering LME backwardation added further downward pressure to Shanghai and Taiwan zinc premiums in the latest pricing session on Tuesday June 26. Backwardation in LME zinc's cash/three-month spread widened to $47.25 per tonne on Wednesday. US rates were unchanged, but the logistics and freight market were characterized as nightmarish. Lead demand remains strong in Asia, particularl...Read More
Comex copper prices were once again facing a bout of selling with a stronger dollar and the persistent threat of additional tariffs weighing on the red metal. Copper for September settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 1.50 cents or 0.5% to $2.9770 per lb. The With trade tensions mounting, commodities continue to face pressure from macroeconomic instability, ty...Read More
The recent rally in silico-manganese futures prices on China's Zhengzhou Commodities Exchange (ZCE) can largely be attributed to an impending shortage of the alloy in the country, market participants told Metal Bulletin.Silico-manganese futures prices on the ZCE have undergone a steep rally recently, with the exchange's most-traded July silico-manganese contract reaching of 8,126 yuan ($1,251) per...Read More
South African manganese miner Tshipi has been exceeding its production targets and ensuring it has adequate stockpiles to take advantage of high manganese ore prices.Metal Bulletin's 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Elizabeth stood at $5.74 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday June 22, up 42.4% from $4.03 per dmtu a year ago. Tshipi is targeting manganese ore production of 3.3 million tonne...Read More
China's crude stainless steel capacity is expected to increase by 7.5 million tonnes per year to 44-45 million tpy by 2020, although there is some pessimism about mills' utilization rates, according to Zhang Zhifang, chairman of Chinese producer Taiyuan Iron & Steel. Production capacity of cold-rolled stainless steel in particular will increase in the short term, Zhang pointed out during his prese...Read More