Gold and silver prices changed direction again and spiked on Friday. The disappointing U.S employment report and U.S PMI Manufacturing index may have contributed to the rally in precious metals and the renewed speculations of another QE program in the near future. Crude oil tumbled down (both Brent and WTI). Furthermore, the price of natural gas (spot and future) also plunged. The Euro changed direction and rose against the USD. On the other hand, several other exchange rates such as the Aussie dollar depreciated against the USD.
Here is a summary of the daily changes in precious metals and energy commodities for June 1st, 2012:
Forex and Bullion Markets:
Gold spiked by 3.7% to $1,622.1; Silver also traded sharply up by 2.72% and reached $28.51. During the week, gold rose by 3.2% and silver by 0.4%.
The Euro/USD also increased by 0.56% to 1.2435; alternatively, the U.S Dollar appreciated against several currencies such as Canadian dollar by 0.8%.
Energy Commodities:
WTI oil price continued to tumble, yesterday by 3.81% to $83.23 per barrel;
Brent oil also trade sharply down by 3.2% to $98.81 per barrel;
Following these developments, the gap between Brent and WTI settled at $15.58/bbl. During the week, WTI declined by 8.2% and Brent oil by 8.5%.
Finally, the Henry Hub future (June delivery) resumed its descent and fell by 3.72% to $2.33/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot plunged to $2.24/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future edged up to $0.09/mmbtu, Contango.
A Summary for June 1st:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:
For further reading: