The stock markets fell for the second straight day, but this didn’t cause a sharp drop in oil prices as Brent oil even finished the day in the green. Gold and silver prices completed a whole week of gains as they have reached yesterday new highs. Natural gas spot price (Henry Hub) bounced back and moderately inclined.
Here is a summary of the price movements of precious metals and energy commodities for August 19th:
Precious Metals prices:
Gold price increased yesterday by 1.66% to $1,852; Silver price also sharply inclined by 4.3% to $42.467. Silver reached the highest price level since May 3rd.
During August, gold prices increased by 13.5%, and silver price by 5.9%.
The EURO to US Dollar exchange rate continue to zigzag and it inclined yesterday by 0.45%, as the USD depreciated against the EURO. During August the EURO to US Dollar slightly fell by 0.01% compared with its initial level at the beginning of the month.
Oil and Gas prices:
WTI Spot oil price didn’t react much to the falls in the stock markets as it only moderately fell yesterday by 0.15% to $82.26 per barrel; during August the WTI spot oil price declined by 14%. Brent spot price on the other hand increased by 2.43% to $109.53 per barrel.
Due to these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI inclined to a new high $27.27/bbl.
Natural gas Henry Hub future price (September delivery) moderately inclined by 1.29% to $3.94/mmbtu. The Henry Hub spot price also rose by 0.25% to $3.99/mmbtu; the gap between the spot and future price inclined to -$0.05, i.e. backwardation. During August, natural gas spot price (Henry Hub) fell by 6.3%.
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:
Monthly Analysis and Outlook: