BLBG:Commodities Advance on Outlook for Stronger Demand From Emerging Markets
increased demand from emerging markets prompted speculation that this month’s decline was excessive.
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 raw materials gained as much as 1.6 percent, the most since May 9, and was up 1.3 percent at 681.76 by 11:32 a.m. London time. It fell 11 percent this month before today after touching the highest level since 2008 on April 11. Zinc added as much as 3.7 percent in London trading, and raw sugar rose as much as 3.8 percent in New York.
Investment spending in emerging markets is outpacing expenditures in developed economies for the first time as a surge in infrastructure supports global growth and profits. Bulls say economic expansion, led by China, India and Brazil, is raising demand at a time when producers from mining industry leader BHP Billiton Ltd. to oil company BP Plc can’t keep up.
“We still see strong demand from emerging economies” for raw materials including oil, said Ong Yi Ling, a Singapore-based investment strategist at Phillip Futures Pte. “Some investors are returning to the markets.”
International Monetary Fund data show investment will top 24 percent of global gross domestic product in 2012, the most in more than two decades. Michael Saunders, Citigroup Inc.’s chief European economist, has calculated that developing nations will probably secure the largest share of it this year.
Copper Gains
Copper for three-month delivery reached a one-week high of $8,955.25 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange and was last up 1.5 percent at $8,929.50. The contract, which dropped 5.6 percent this month as of yesterday’s close, also climbed before today’s options expiry and settlement.
Copper demand from China’s cable makers, the biggest user in the world’s largest market, will more than double over the next 10 years, gaining as much as 15 percent annually, according to Hu An Cable Holdings Ltd. (HAN) The company used 360,000 tons of the metal for cables, rods and wires last year.
Commodities will rebound as advances by oil and gold help to compensate for lower industrial-metal prices, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. “Ultimately the long-term fundamental supply and demand of commodities is still pointing to higher prices,” Ray Eyles, chief executive officer of the bank’s commodities business in Asia, said in an interview.
Unrest in the Middle East and the effect of Japan’s worst nuclear crisis will have a “significant” effect on long-term energy prices, Eyles said. Precious metals remain the main beneficiary of a “strong interest” in investor diversification, inflation and currency hedges, he said.
Oil, Gold
Oil climbed from the lowest level in almost three months on the New York Mercantile Exchange, gaining as much as 2 percent as inventories in the U.S. fell, and was recently ahead 1.4 percent at $98.29 a barrel. Immediate-delivery gold rose as much as 0.6 percent to $1,496.40 an ounce after three days of declines and was last at $1,493.52.
“The stock market and other commodity markets seem to be reflecting that risk is back on today,” said Yang Jun, an analyst at Hongyuan Futures Co. “However, recent economic data may limit price gains.”
The MSCI World Index of shares rose for the first day in six, and futures indicated U.S. benchmarks will advance when New York trading begins.
Corn advanced for a fifth day, the longest streak since December, on concern yields in parts of the U.S. will drop as wet weather delays planting from North Dakota to Ohio. Wheat climbed for a third day.
July-delivery corn was last up 0.9 percent at $7.2675 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, paring a climb of as much as 1.1 percent. Wheat for delivery in the same month gained as much as 1.4 percent and was recently up 1 percent at $7.715 a bushel.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kyoungwha Kim in Singapore at kkim19@bloomberg.net; Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net