By Chris Flood in London
Commodity markets made a flying start to 2008 with gold, oil and platinum setting records during the first trading session of the new year.
Gold led the initial advance, rising 3.3 per cent to $861.10 a troy ounce, surpassing the previous high of $850 reached in January 1980. The metal later eased back to $858.10 in late London trading.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Dollar fear sparks rush to oil and gold - Jan-03Energy Filter: Ed Crooks - Jan-03Lex: Peak no evil - Jan-02Oil chiefs told to focus on reinvestment - Jan-02Analysis: US faces prospect of recession - Jan-02Independent trader claims $100 oil record - Jan-03Traders said there was consistent selling pressure on gold in December as investors booked profits before the year-end, but that drag had cleared and Wednesday’s price rise indicated the strength of underlying sentiment.
Gold also found support from renewed dollar weakness after the influential ISM manufacturing survey indicated that industrial activity contracted in December, fuelling fears that the US economy could be dragged into recession as weakness in the housing market spreads into other sectors.
Gold’s strength spilled over into platinum, which rose 1.6 per cent to $1,544 a troy ounce.
Oil hit $100 a barrel, partly because of violence in Nigeria, which raised concerns about further possible supply interruptions from the world’s eighth largest crude exporter.
Nymex February West Texas Intermediate jumped $4.102 to $100 a barrel, passing the previous high of $99.29 reached in November. Dealers said there was a single trade at $100 between two Nymex floor traders.
ICE February Brent leapt $3.89 to $97.74 a barrel, a contract record.
Due to the new year holiday, the latest US inventories data are due for release Thursday and traders expect to see further evidence that the market is tightening.
Crude inventories were expected to have fallen 1.8m barrels in a seventh consecutive weekly decline, according to a preliminary poll of analysts by Reuters.
Distillate stocks (including heating oil) were forecast to have risen 0.3m barrels. Heating oil stocks are 34.5 per cent below last year’s levels, and with colder weather expected in parts of the US, Nymex February heating oil rose 8.8 cents to $2.7375 a gallon, a record.
Nymex February RBOB gasoline added 7.7 cents at $2.5675 a gallon, with gasoline inventories expected to increase 1.8m barrels in Thursday’s report.
Agricultural commodities made a strong start to 2008, finding support from further evidence of strong demand from key consuming countries and recent moves by Russia and China to increase taxes on grain exports to bolster domestic supplies.
Russia will raise the tax on grain exports from 10 per cent to 40 per cent from January 29, a move that is expected to result in Russian exporters rushing to secure business this month.
China will impose temporary taxes, between 5 per cent and 25 per cent, on grain exports for a year, starting later month as part of government efforts to curb soaring food prices.
In Chicago, CBOT March wheat rose 30 cents, its daily trading limit, to $9.15 a bushel while CBOT March corn rose 12 cents to $4.67½ a bushel and CBOT January soyabeans gained 43 cents to $12.42 a bushel.
A revised robusta coffeefutures contract is to be listed by Liffe from January 14. The new contract will encompass a broader range of qualities from all origins in a new 10-tonne lot size. The first futures delivery month for the revised contract will be November 2008.
Liffe January robusta coffee rose $37 to $1,903 a tonne.
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