Gold and silver prices changed direction yesterday and finished the week rising; crude oil prices on the other hand fell sharply; these shifts in commodities prices might also be related to the recent US GDP Q2 2011 report that showed a 1.3% increase compared to the first quarter; finally, natural gas spot price (Henry Hub) declined again.
Here is a summary of the price movements of precious metals and energy commodities for July 29th:
Precious Metals prices:
Gold price bounced back and finished the week with a 0.93% to $1,631. Silver price also inclined on Friday by 0.78% to reach $40.11.
During July, gold prices increased by 8.5% and silver price by 15.1%.
The EURO/ USD inclined yesterday by 0.45%, as the USD depreciated against the EURO. During July the EURO/USD fell by 0.7% compared with the rate at the beginning of the month.
Oil and Gas prices:
WTI Spot oil price declined by 1.79% to $95.70 per barrel; during July the WTI spot oil price inclined by 0.4%.
Brent spot price also fell by 0.28% to $116.81 per barrel.
Due to these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI rose to $21.11/bbl.
Natural gas Henry Hub future price (August delivery) declined by 2.36% to $4.14/mmbtu. The Henry Hub spot price also fell by 3.4% to $4.26/mmbtu; the gap between the spot and future price reached -$0.12, i.e. backwardation. During July, natural gas spot price (Henry Hub) declined by 0.5%.
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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