BLBG: Commodities Rise to One-Month High on Growth in the U.S., China
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Commodities prices rose to a one- month high, led by gains in industrial metals and energy, on speculation that growth in China and the U.S. will support demand for raw materials.
The S&P GSCI Total Return Index of 24 commodities climbed as much as 0.9 percent to 4,247.8, the highest level since Aug. 11 and was up 0.6 percent at 12:49 p.m. in London. Zinc jumped 2.9 percent, aluminum increased 2.2 percent and crude oil gained 0.9 percent.
China's industrial production rose 13.9 percent in August from a year earlier, a statistics bureau report over the weekend showed, higher than the 13 percent median estimate of 29 economists. The country is the biggest buyer of industrial metals. Government reports on retail sales and industrial production this week may also signal growth in the U.S., the world's largest oil consumer.
"News that Chinese production is growing more than expected is very supportive," said Thorbjoern Bak Jensen, a Global Risk Management analyst based in Middelfart, Denmark. "U.S. data this week may further write off the prospect of a double-dip."
Crude oil for October delivery climbed 66 cents to $77.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices jumped 3 percent on Sept. 10.
U.S. retail sales probably rose 0.3 percent, according to the median estimate of 63 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before tomorrow's Commerce Department report. This follows a 0.4 percent gain in July.
"A new week has begun with an air of optimism over the growth outlook following economic data from China," Derek Halpenny, the London-based European head of global currency research at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., wrote in a report today. There is also "relief that the Basel III agreement is not as onerous on the banking sector as some feared."
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision reached a compromise yesterday that more than doubles capital requirements for banks while giving them until 2019 to meet so-called buffer requirements to withstand future stress, in an effort to curb the risk-taking that led to the financial crisis.
Imports into China also accelerated, adding to signs that growth in the country is picking up even after the government curbed credit growth and property speculation and closed energy- intensive and polluting factories.
Three-month delivery copper rebounded from last week's drop, aided by shrinking inventories and was 1.9 percent higher at $7,630 a metric ton. Zinc gained $57 to $2,167 a ton and aluminum advanced $49 to $2,149 a ton.
Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,246.45 an ounce in London. Bullion traded at a record $1,265.30 an ounce on June 21.
The December-delivery wheat contract rose 1 percent, to $7.45 a bushel in Chicago. Raw sugar for March delivery gained 0.2 percent to 21.75 cents a pound in New York, while white, or refined, sugar for December delivery fell 1.3 percent to $578.40 a ton in London. Cocoa fell to a one-year low on signs of a better crop in West Africa, the world's biggest producing region.