Gold and silver prices changed direction on last day of the week and were traded down. Crude oil (WTI) price also shifted gear and bounce back from its downward trend of past days. These shifts may have been stem, in part, from the recent US non-farm payroll report, which showed an increase of 243 thousand in January. Natural gas future price declined yesterday. The Euro and many other currencies slightly rose yesterday against the U.S dollar. Here is a summary of the developments of precious metals and energy commodities for February 3rd, 2012:
Precious Metals:
Gold price declined on Friday by 1.08% to $1,740.3; Silver price also traded down by 1.25% to $33.75. During the week, gold rose by 0.3% and silver fell by 0.1%.
The Euro/USD slightly increased by 0.11% to 1.3158; the U.S Dollar also depreciated against other currencies such as the AUD.
Oil and Gas:
WTI price traded up by 1.54% to $97.84 per barrel; Brent oil also increased by 2.06% to $114.28 per barrel;
Due to these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI oil prices sharply increased to $16.44/bbl. During the week, WTI slipped by 1.7%, while Brent rose by 3.2%.
The Henry Hub future price (March delivery) fell by 1.96% to $2.50/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot rose to $2.41/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future sharply fell to $0.09, i.e. Contango.
A Summary of Changes for February 3rd:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:
For further reading: