The penultimate week of May started off with rapid falls for crude oil prices, along with moderate falls for silver prices; on the other hand, gold and natural gas prices inclined.
Here is a summary of the main price changes in energy commodities and precious metals for May 23rd:
Precious Metals prices:
Gold price started off the week with moderate rises yesterday of 0.43% and reached 1,515$.
Silver price, on the other hand, fell by 0.52% and finished at 39.90$.
During May, gold prices decreased by 2.6% and silver price fell by 28.2%.
The EURO/ USD fell very sharply for the second straight day, yesterday by 0.8%, as the USD appreciates against the EURO. During May the EURO/USD lost 5.1% of its value.
Oil and Gas prices:
Spot oil price (WTI) also decreased yesterday by 2.25% and reached 97.25$/b; during May the WTI spot oil price fell by 14.2%.
Brent spot price also declined by 2.41% and reached 110.06$/b.
As a result, the difference between Brent and WTI declined to 12.81$/b.
Natural gas price (Henry Hub spot) on the other hand increased very sharply by 5.93% and reached 4.29$/mmbtu.
The Henry Hub future price also rose sharply by 2.84% to 4.35$/mmbtu; as a result the spread between future and spot price inclined to 0.06$/mmbtu, i.e. contango.
A summary of yesterday’s Prices Changes:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent change, and change in US dollars (except for USD/CAD, in which the change is in Canadian dollars):
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For further reading (in this site):
Monthly Analysis and Outlook:
- Natural gas prices outlook for May 2011
- Gold and silver prices outlook May 2011 – what’s next for gold & silver?
- Oil prices Monthly outlook –May 2011