Following the results of the French and Greek elections that were held over the weekend the markets started off the week on a negative note: Gold and silver prices decreased after they had both rose on Friday. Crude oil prices continued their downward trend; natural gas future price bounced back and increased yesterday. Finally, the Euro depreciated again against the U.S. dollar for the sixth consecutive business day; other currencies such as the Canadian dollar also slipped vs. the USD.
Here is a summary of the daily shifts in precious metals and energy commodities for May 7th, 2012:
Precious Metals:
Gold price decreased by 0.37% to $1,639; Silver price also declined by 1.02% and reached $30.12. During the month, gold declined by 1.51% and silver by 2.88%.
The Euro/USD slipped again by 0.24% to 1.3051; furthermore, the U.S Dollar also appreciated against other exchange rates such as the Canadian dollar.
Energy Commodities:
WTI oil price declined again by 0.56% to $97.94 per barrel; Brent oil also edged down by 0.01% to $113.15 per barrel;
Following these changes, the gap between Brent and WTI oil prices reached $15.21/bbl. During the month, WTI fell by 6.61% and Brent oil declined by 5.4%.
The Henry Hub future (June delivery) sharply rose by 2.19% to $2.33/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot price decreased to $2.3/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future was $0.03/mmbtu, i.e. Contango.
A Summary of Changes for May 7th:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:
For further reading: