Many commodities prices continued their rally: crude oil prices sharply increased; gold and silver also sharply rose; natural gas future price slipped yesterday. The Euro sharply appreciated against the US Dollar along with other major currencies (Canadian dollar) against the U.S dollar. Here is a summary of the developments of precious metals and energy commodities for February 23rd, 2012:
Precious Metals:
Gold price increased again on Thursday by 0.85% to $1,786.3; Silver price also sharply rose by 3.81% and reached $35.64. During February, gold increased by 2.6% and silver by 7.14%.
The Euro/USD sharply rose by 0.94% to 1.3373; furthermore, the U.S Dollar also depreciated against many exchange rates including the Canadian dollar.
Oil and Gas:
WTI price also sharply increased by 1.47% to $107.49 per barrel; Brent oil rose by 2.07% to $125.98 per barrel;
Due to these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI oil prices increased to $18.49/bbl. During the month, WTI rose by 9.1% and Brent by 13.6%.
The Henry Hub future price (March delivery) fell by 1.13% to $2.62/mmbtu; the Henry Hub rose to $2.67/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future reached $0.05/mmbtu, i.e. Backwardation.
A Summary of Changes for February 23rd:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:
For further reading: