Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday December 27.China Seaborne prices of both grades of manganese ore in China continued higher after deals for February delivery of material were concluded at higher levels.Chinese domestic portside manganese ore prices of both grades rose further due to...Read More

China and the U.S. have reached a preliminaryagreement, which softens their trade war, while the landslide victory ofConservative Party in the UK parliamentary elections clears the path to Brexit.Given that downside risks for the global economy are now significantly lower,how much do investors still need gold? UKParliamentary Elections and GoldOn Thursday, the British people voted in another snapp...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday December 27. ChinaSpot Chinese ferro-chrome prices fell in an oversupplied market, with falling January tender prices from major Chinese stainless steel mills weighing further on the spot market.Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco) slashed its...Read More

Federal Reserve ChairmanJerome Powell’s comments on inflation last Wednesday added fuel to the contra-dollartrade.During a press conferencefollowing the Fed’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged, Powell said,“In order to move rates up, I would want to see inflation that's persistent andthat's significant. A significant move up in inflation that's alsopersistent..."To...Read More

Tonight I would like to update some commodities charts we haven’t looked at in a while. There have been some subtle changes taking place that need to be addressed. Just like the PM complex that topped out in 2011 many commodities also topped out that same year and have been correcting ever since. With the US dollar at an important inflection point it may be time for commodities in general to...Read More

Earlier this year,  various gold stock indices (XAU, HUI, GDX) gained more than fifty percent in just three months. Most of the negativity associated with the sector was brushed aside and replaced by positive expectations for the future.Of course, the 90-day rush to this year’s highs did not occur in a vacuum. The price of gold rose by twenty percent over the same three-month period. Th...Read More

Technical analyst Clive Maund charts the longer term picture for silver.Like gold, silver has been in a corrective downtrend following its peak early in September, and it looks like it has further to run before its done, partly of course because we have a downside target for gold in the $1360–$1400 area before it turns up. On the 6-month month we can see how it has been stumbling lower withi...Read More

The gold miners’ stockshave largely been consolidating high following last summer’s powerful upleg.  That resilience has left sentiment relativelybullish, with traders mostly expecting this sector to soon start surging again. But the jury is still out on whethergold stocks will be lucky enough to evade a bigger correction.  Major downside risks still abound, primarilyin...Read More

The Fed kept the interest rates unchanged in December. The statement was rather hawkish, while the dot-plot rather dovish. What does such a mix imply for the yellow metal? Fed Keeps Interest Rates UnchangedYesterday, the FOMC published the monetary policy statement from its latest meeting that took place on December 10-11th. In line with expectations, the U.S. central bank left the federal funds r...Read More

Verylittle happened in the precious metals market both yesterday and in today’spre-market trading – at least so far. We will take this opportunity to discusssomething that we haven’t done in a while – silverstocks.To be clear, we’re not going to discuss the silver mining stock selection, asthat’s something our proprietaryalgorithms do on a daily basis. And yes,...Read More

Gold-linked exchange-traded products are growing in popularitywith investors. Assets held by gold ETFs have grown 38% globally in 2019. In October, according to the World Gold Council, gold ETFsattracted $1.9 billion in net inflows to reach a new record high total goldholding of 2,900 tonnes – at least on paper.There is good reason to be skeptical of whether all these “gold”vehic...Read More

Gold,silver, and mining stocks reversed practically exactly at their double trianglereversal point and the short positions that we opened along with takingprofits off the table from the previous longpositions, became profitable almost instantly. There’s quite a decline to catchhere, and it seems that only a small part thereof had already taken place. PMsReversingTheabove chart clearly shows...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Friday December 27 because of trades heard at higher levels.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.51 per tonne, up $0.88 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.60 per tonne, up $0.88 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.65 per tonne, up $1.04 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $77.73 per tonne, up...Read More

Trading activity in the seaborne coking coal market was robust this week despite it being the end of the year, with over 800,000 tonnes of premium products changing hands.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.25 per tonne, up $0.12 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $148.77 per tonne, up $0.82 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per tonne, unchangedHard...Read More

Christopher LewisDec 26, 2019 04:51 PM GMTGold markets have rallied significantly during the trading session again on Thursday, reaching towards the $1516 level, and at this point I think that the market is probably going to go looking towards the $1520 level. If we can break above there, then this is the longer-term uptrend ready to continue going higher. Ultimately though, I think that a pullbac...Read More

SD Friday Wrap: It looks like silver's run is only just getting started. Here are not one, not two, but several reasons why...*****Editor's Note: These charts were set-up before 1:00 p.m., and they do not include price action after that time.*****Silver put in a nice, strong move this week.Not many people were looking for silver to rally, but I was, and I imagine most people now think the rally h...Read More

Nickel and tin dipped in the morning trading session on the London Metal Exchange on Friday December 27 but the rest of the base metals were firm after the Christmas break"While the LME was away yesterday it's fair to say little happened in its absence. Prices have started the day as a mixed bag," Kingdom Futures CEO Malcolm Freeman said in a morning note. The LME three-month nickel price fell fur...Read More

The price of ferrous scrap imported into India increased this week due to the upswing in global ferrous scrap markets, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva was $307.54 per tonne on on Friday December 27, up from $296.05 per tonne a week earlier.Deals were heard for shredded scrap at $305-310 per tonne and offers at $315 per tonne. Negotiations...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More

Base metals prices were little changed at the close on Friday December 27, with a return to market post-Christmas doing little to inspire upward price movement on the London Metal Exchange."There is really not a great deal to talk about in the metals market apart from the Santa rally in US indices amid record high prices, fueled no doubt by the trade deal with China," Fastmarkets research analyst...Read More