Commodity Blog

Gold jumped today to the highest level in three weeks after nonfarm payrolls, which were delayed due to the US government shutdown, came out much worse than traders have hoped for. US employment grew by 148,000 in September, much less than the expected 182,000. The data suggests that the Federal Reserve will not reduce its monetary stimulus anytime soon and such outlook is very positive for bullion. Futures for delivery of the precious metal in December traded at 1,340.2 per troy ounce as of 23:17 GMT on COMEX after jumping 2 percent to $1,342.6 earlier today.

Nickel prices reached nine-week high today on concerns about possible ore export ban from Indonesia. The Indonesian authorities are planning to halt shipments of ores to help domestic processing. Among the affected materials will be bauxite, which is used in making of aluminum and nickel. Therefore, the export ban would mean falling production of the industrial metals. Contract for delivery of nickel in three months surged as much as 3.4 percent to $14,850 per metric ton on LME after reaching $14,880, the highest price since August 19. Aluminum also gained.

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