Crude oil prices increased again for the second consecutive day; gold price and silver remained nearly unchanged as gold slightly rose and silver moderately decreased on Thursday. Natural gas prices changed direction and sharply increased. The Euro also shifted and slightly appreciated against the US Dollar; other major currencies (Aussie dollar) also slightly appreciated against the U.S dollar. Here is a summary of the developments of precious metals and energy commodities for February 16th, 2012:
Precious Metals:
Gold price moderately increased on Thursday by 0.02% to $1,728.4; Silver price slightly decreased by 0.11% and reached $33.37. During February, gold declined by 0.69% while silver rose by 0.32%.
The Euro/USD slightly rose by 0.49% to 1.3130; the U.S Dollar slightly depreciated against other exchange rates such as the Aussie dollar.
Oil and Gas:
WTI price rose by 0.5% to $102.31 per barrel; Brent oil also increased by 1.4% to $121.61 per barrel;
Due to these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI oil prices increased to $19.30/bbl. During the month, WTI rose by 3.9% and Brent by 9.6%.
The Henry Hub future price (March delivery) sharply increased by 5.76% to $2.57/mmbtu; the Henry Hub on the other hand fell to $2.48/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future reached $0.09, i.e. Contango.
A Summary of Changes for February 16th:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:
For further reading: