BS: Gold and Crude Oil Prices Higher as Sliver Slips – USD gains vs JPY but lower vs EUR
(Best Syndication News) Gold and crude oil prices benefited from the upward swing in stock prices around the world Thursday (see the forex and futures charts below). The Japanese yen slipped as European leaders made some headway concerning the Greek sovereign debt crisis.
There is hope that Greek lawmakers will work out a deal with their private bond holders on Monday. Greece has presented details on how they will get the €300 billion cuts to satisfy the troika, but there is no word yet whether the ECB will cut their bonds (not make a profit on them) to help the Hellenic Republic out.
German Prime Minister Angela Merkel had to call off a visit to Italy to meet with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. She needs to stay in Germany after German President Christian Wulff resigned in the midst of a political scandal. This could delay a decision on the Greek bailout.
Stock markets are higher in Asia and Europe. The U.S. Department of Labor will release their consumer price index (inflation) data Friday morning.
Precious Metals
April gold on the COMEX added just 30 cents (+0.02%) to $1,728.40 a troy ounce (see the survey #2 settle price chart below). Silver dropped 4 cents (-0.11%) to $33.37 an ounce.
Platinum and copper prices were lower, however, palladium gained in value.
Gold, silver, and other precious metals were higher on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM). Gold gained 63 yen (+1.45%) to ¥4,421 per gram. See the TOCOM chart below for our exclusive dollar conversions.
Energy Prices
March light sweet crude oil (WTI) on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) jumped 51 cents (+0.50%) to $102.11 a barrel. Brent crude oil on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) added $1.48 (+1.25%) to $120.11 a barrel.
The difference between the two benchmarks was $17.80 a barrel.
Heating oil, coal and natural gas were all higher.
Forex Trading
The British pound sterling (GBP) advanced against all major currencies while the Japanese yen (JPY) declined (see the cross charts below).
The US dollar (USD) declined against most currencies as economic conditions improved in Europe (see the average dollar rate chart below). The USD fell 0.65 percent vs the Australian dollar (AUD), 0.84 percent vs the euro (EUR), 0.75 percent vs the Swiss franc (CHF) and 0.62 percent vs the Canadian dollar.
The greenback turned around against the CAD and AUD later in the day (see intraday chart below). The USD/JPY hit 79.09, the EUR/USD hit 1.3147, the GBP/USD hit 1.5841, the CAD/USD hit 0.9957, the USD/HKD hit 7.7542, and the AUD/USD hit 1.0765.
