Precious metals prices didn’t do much to start off the week as both gold and silver slightly declined; in the crude oil market WTI oil price slightly rose while Brent oil price plummeted; if this trend will continue it means the gap between Brent oil and WTI oil will close. Natural gas prices changed direction and bounced back on Monday. Finally, the Euro continues to zigzag; this time it slightly rose against the U.S. dollar, while other currencies such as the Australian dollar depreciated against the USD.
Here is a summary of the changes in precious metals and energy commodities for April 16th, 2012:
Precious Metals:
Gold price slipped by 0.63% to $1,649.7; Silver price also edged down by 0.05% and reached $31.37. During April, gold declined by 1.33% and silver by 3.42%.
The Euro/USD rose yesterday by 0.49% to 1.3142; alternatively, the U.S Dollar depreciated against other exchange rates such as the Aussie dollar.
Oil and Gas:
WTI price edged up by 0.10% to $102.93 per barrel; Brent oil however tumbled by 2.38% to $118.69 per barrel;
Following these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI oil prices settled at $15.76/bbl – the lowest level since February 2012. During the month, WTI declined by 0.09% and Brent oil declined by 4.14%.
The Henry Hub future (May delivery) rose by 2.02% to $2.02/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot price also increased to $1.88/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future reached $0.14/mmbtu, i.e. Contango.
A Summary of Changes for April 16th:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:
For further reading: