Following the publication of the minutes of the FOMC meeting the prices of bullion prices hiked. On the other hand, many commodities traded down on Thursday: crude oil price (WTI and Brent oil) decreased again; gold and silver traded sharply up on Thursday – this was the fourth consecutive day in which silver increased; natural gas Henry Hub future (September delivery) decreased while spot prices edged up on Thursday; The Euro rose again on Thursday. Several exchange rates including the Canadian dollar depreciated against USD.
Here is a summary of the daily changes in precious metals and energy commodities for August 23rd, 2012:
Forex and Bullion Markets:
Gold rose by 1.97% to $1,672.8; Silver rose by 3% to reach $30.54. During the month, gold increased by 3.6%; silver, by 9.4%.
The Euro/USD also rose by 0.28% to 1.2564; further, the U.S Dollar appreciated against several other currencies including Canadian dollar by 0.25%.
Energy Commodities:
WTI oil price fell yesterday by 1.04% to $95.97 per barrel;
Brent oil slipped by 0.16% to $115.78 per barrel;
Following these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI rose to $19.81/bbl. During the month, WTI increased by 8.98% and Brent oil by 9.3%.
Finally, the Henry Hub future (September delivery) declined by 1.06% to $2.8/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot rose to $2.81/mmbtu; the difference between the spot reached -$0.01, backwardation.
A Summary for August 23rd:
The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:
For further reading: