Commodity Blog

Gold futures are trading relatively flat amid the US dollar’s descent under the key 90 mark and investors shaking off last week’s trade war concerns. The yellow metal advanced nearly 1% last week as investors sought safe-haven assets, stemming from trade tensions between the US and China. With traders trying to remain optimistic heading into a new trading week, President Donald Trump is warning that the market may feel some pain over the next little while. This could be a boon for gold.

June gold futures rose $0.50, or 0.04%, to $1,336.60 per ounce at 16:15 GMT on Monday. Year-to-date, gold prices are up nearly 2%.

Silver is mustering up a rally to kick off the trading week. May silver futures jumped $0.073, or 0.42%, to $16.44 per ounce. The white metal suffered a 0.20% weekly loss last week. Year-to-date, the sister commodity to gold has slumped close to 4% and have not topped the $17 threshold since the start of February.

The leading stock indexes are surging on Monday as traders try to look beyond the trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. The market will focus on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s important speech on Tuesday, which could signal if US-China trade relations are escalating or de-escalating.

So far, the triple-digit gains are not helping the US dollar as the greenback shed 0.29% to 89.90. A weaker buck is good for dollar-denominated commodities like gold and silver because it makes it cheaper for foreign investors to purchase.

In the week ending April 3, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), hedge funds and money managers slashed their net long positions in gold while increasing their net short positions in silver.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released a disappointing labor report that found the national economy created a lower-than-expected 103,000 jobs in March. Inflation fears were also renewed because wages rose eight cents, or 0.3%, to $26.82 per hour, bringing the 12-month increase to 2.7%.

Other metal commodities are soaring on Monday. May copper futures rose $0.02, or 0.72%, to $3.08 per pound. May platinum futures surged $20.40, or 2.22%, to $937.90 an ounce. May palladium futures soared $37.50, or 4.19%, to $932.65 per ounce.

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