Tuesday, 15 May 2018

MCX COMMODITY MARKET NEWS & UPDATES - 15 MAY 2018

Gold Prices Fall Despite Weaker Dollar - Gold prices fell on Tuesday while the dollar also dropped slightly against the other major currencies. Gold prices were supported on safe-haven buying earlier in the day amid rising tension in Gaza, as Israeli troops shot dead dozens of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border on Monday. "We're seeing little sparks of interests on the back of these issues but at the moment it doesn't look significant enough to raise concerns over the medium-term which support a more sustained level of safe-haven buying," ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said in a note, adding that gold prices is likely to remain under pressure until the next rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are usually sensitive to moves in the dollar – a gain in the dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency and thus decreases demand for the precious metal.

Nickel prices receive brief support from tight supply in May - Nickel prices received support as capital inflows surged on short supplies in the market as of Tuesday May 15. However, SMM does not expect the uptick in prices to be sustained as stainless steel consumption is likely to cool in June and as optimism from nickel sulphate for the battery industry weakens. The SHFE nickel 1807 contract climbed up to close at 106,520 yuan/mt on Monday, 2,600 yuan/mt higher from last Friday.

Copper dropped coming under pressure from a rise in stockpiles - Copper on MCX settled down -0.28% at 463.70 prices slid coming under pressure from a rise in stockpiles of the metal used in power and construction. While on MCX prices got some support on Rupee weakness as weak industrial output data disappointed investors and caution set in ahead of Karnataka election results, due on Tuesday. Yesterday LME copper fell 0.2 percent to $6,873 a tonne as pressure seen after the headline that stocks in LME warehouses rose 8,900 tonnes to 289,975 tonnes. Inventories had fallen more than 100,000 tonnes since March to just over 280,000 tonnes, while copper prices have moved sideways after reaching a four-year high of $7,312.50 in December. Also the impact of Chinese curbs on scrap metal imports introduced this year will be blunted by a rise in domestic scrap production.

Oil Prices Stay High With Looming Iran Sanctions - Oil prices remained near multi-year highs on Tuesday morning in Asia amid looming U.S. sanctions against Iran.Oil markets have been on edge since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the international nuclear deal with Iran, raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East and casting uncertainty over global oil supplies. Iran currently produces around 4% of global oil supplies and is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Traders expect Iran’s oil exports to fall significantly once U.S. sanctions bite later this year. Around a million barrels of oil a day is likely to disappear, threatening to tip the already tightening oil markets into undersupply.