Gold and silver prices started off the week the same way they have ended last week – strong. Both precious metals prices increase along with many other commodities prices including crude oil prices. There were reports along the day that suggest commodities prices might decline. These new items include: Goldman Sachs cut its recommendations on raw commodities; the S&P500 has outperformed gold price during 2012 so far; the EU rate on unemployment edged up from 10.7% in January to 10.8% in February. On the other hand, the U.S continued to show signs of progress as the U.S PMI manufacturing index rose from 52.7% in February to 53.4% in March. The news about the progress of U.S economy may have been among the factors driving not only commodities prices, but also American stock markets up during the day. Alternatively, natural gas spot price continued its freefall. The Euro slightly declined against the U.S. dollar.
Here is a summary of the changes in precious metals and energy commodities for April 2nd, 2012:
Precious Metals:
Gold price increased again for the second consecutive business day, this time by 0.47% to $1,679.7; Silver price also rose by 1.89% and reached $33.1.
The Euro/USD on the other hand slipped yesterday by 0.18% to 1.332; alternatively, the U.S Dollar depreciated against other exchange rates such as the Aussie dollar.
Oil and Gas:
WTI price also sharply rose by 2.15% to $105.23 per barrel; Brent oil also increased by 1.45% to $125.6 per barrel;
Due to these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI oil prices contacted to $20.37/bbl.
The Henry Hub future (May delivery) increased by 0.94% to $2.15/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot price sharply declined to $1.87/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future reached $0.28/mmbtu, i.e. Contango.
A Summary of Changes for April 2nd:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:
For further reading: