Major commodities prices changed direction and hiked on the last day of the week, following the positive U.S non-farm payroll report. This rally came after they had declined during most of the week: crude oil price including WTI and Brent oil hiked on Thursday; gold and silver prices also changed direction and rose; natural gas Henry Hub (August delivery) and spot price on the other hand continued to fall. The Euro also hiked on Friday. Many exchange rates including the Aussie dollar also increased against USD.
Here is a summary of the daily changes in precious metals and energy commodities for August 3rd, 2012:
Forex and Bullion Markets:
Gold rose by 1.17% to $1,609.3; Silver also increased by 2.99% and reached $27.8. During the month, gold edged down by 0.33%; silver, by 0.4%.
The Euro/USD also hiked by 1.7% to 1.2387; further, the U.S Dollar also depreciated against many other currencies such as Aussie dollar by 0.99%.
Energy Commodities:
WTI oil price also spiked yesterday by 4.9% to $91.4 per barrel;
Brent oil also rose by 2.96% to $109.54 per barrel;
Following these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI fell to $18.14/bbl. During the week, WTI rose by 1.4% and Brent oil by 1.5%.
Finally, the Henry Hub future (August delivery) declined by 1.37% to $2.88/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot also decreased to $2.93/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future rose to -$0.05, backwardation.
A Summary for August 3rd:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:
For further reading:
- Gold and Silver Monthly Outlook for August
- What Affects Gold Price?
- Crude Oil Prices – Weekly Outlook July 30- August 3