Commodity Capsule| Brent crude oil reverses gains; gold surges to record high, copper slips

Commodity Capsule: Persistent pressure from the OPEC+ decision and uncertainty over global fuel demand growth weigh on oil prices.

Commodity Capsule, image- Reuters

Commodity Capsule: Oil futures reversed course after rising briefly on Monday.

Brent Crude Slipped under the $79 a barrel mark, and down for a sixth consecutive week.

Persistent pressure from the OPEC+ decision and uncertainty over global fuel demand growth weigh on oil prices.

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Although the risk of supply disruptions from the Middle East conflict limited the losses.

Oil prices slumped over 2 per cent last week on investor scepticism about the depth of supply cuts by the OPEC+ and concern about sluggish global manufacturing activity.

OPEC+ cuts announced on Thursday were voluntary in nature, raising doubts about whether or not producers would fully implement them

US oil rigs rose five to 505 this week, their highest since September-- energy services firm Baker Hughes.

Geopolitical considerations were also front and centre of investors' minds as fighting resumed in Gaza.

US Military and commercial vessels came under attack in international waters in the southern Red Sea.

Gold prices surged to a record high, on Monday, past $2150 an ounce level.

Markets bet that the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates as soon as March 2024.

Yellow metal appreciated sharply in recent sessions amid easing inflation, soft labor market data, and some less-hawkish signals from the Fed.

Gold demand was fueled by the attack on American warships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, ramping up concerns over an escalation in the Israel-Hamas war.

Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his stance that US rates will remain higher for longer.

Powell acknowledged the progress made towards curbing inflation and the potential for a “soft landing” for the US economy- reinforced expectations that the Fed will no longer raise interest rates in December, and potentially begin cutting them by March 2024.

London copper prices slipped from a four-month high on Monday as the US dollar strengthened but supply worries amid production disruption in the Cobre mine in Panama capped further losses.

Copper on the London Metal Exchange slipped under $8,600 per metric ton. The contract hit $8,640 last Friday, its highest since August 4.

The dollar index bounced on Monday, as geopolitical tension in the Middle East returned to focus.

Investors observe caution against a key employment report later this week.

Supply-side disruptions in the Cobre mine in Panama owned by First Quantum Minerals triggered worries in a market recording falling inventories.

First Quantum has suspended its current-year production outlook for the Cobre mine.

Global miners reached agreements with Chinese smelters for lower copper concentrate treatment and refining charges for 2024, the first drop in three years.

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