Crude At the end of last week, markets enjoined an easing of the political tensions in Europe. The prospect of a new government in Greece and Italy removed some pressure and the new plan as approved in Italy might even be considered as an indication that the country is captured by some kind of sense of urgency. Risk appetite bolstered commodities prices across the board and Brent crude posted small gains. The front-month contract closed above 114 USD per barrel (USD/bbl). This week, markets will focus on today’s Italian BTP auction and, later in the week, on GDP data from the euro zone. Apart from that, discussions about the IAEA’s report on Iranian nuclear program pose an upside risk to the price of oil. Base Metals Better global mood fuelled rally in base metals prices on Friday. Aluminium underperformed the complex and gained 1% whereas LME 3M copper leapt by about 2.2% and the most active contract (3M) on SHFE gained 5.4%. According to Reuters, China’s commercial banks wrote nearly 17.5% more of new loans than expected in October signalling that the central bank might be easing its monetary policy as inflation worries mitigate. Let us remind that China is the world’s top consumer of copper and aluminium and easier credit conditions in China would therefore undoubtedly support base metals prices across the board. Precious Metals Weaker US dollar supported precious metals prices on Friday and outweighed mitigating concerns over the situation in the euro zone. Nevertheless, a rebound of the US dollar weighs on prices today in early trading and gold is at the time of writing hovering at 1780 USD per troy ounce level.

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