Crude lost about 2 percent on Tuesday. The report of the American Petroleum Institute showed that U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.2 million barrels last week, i.e. more than expected. Today, the official figures collected by the U.S. Department of Energy will be released.
At the same time, the U.S. dollar losses bolster the price of oil. Brent rebounds from the 122 USD per barrel (USD/bbl) level and currently is trading for 123 USD/bbl.
Base Metals
After four days holiday, trading at LME was resumed on Tuesday. Despite opening about 1.5 percent below last Thursday’s close, copper posted modest gains and managed to close back above the 9300 USD per ton level (USD/t).
On the bearish side, vice governor of the Public Bank of China said today that the inflation in the country (which is the world’s top copper consumer) would moderate in H2/2011. He also added that the central bank would continue to suck excess cash out from the economy by raising required reserves and issuing bills.
Precious Metals
Silver extended previous losses and again confirmed its extreme volatility on Tuesday. The metal is currently trading about 15 percent lower compared to an all-time high at 49.51 USD per troy ounce (USD/toz) reached last week. Meanwhile, gold dipped below 1550 USD/toz. In recent sessions, precious metals have been closely watching especially the development of the U.S. dollar.
