Written by Sumit Roy  |

February 08, 2012

Market Wrap: Gold ($1729), Silver ($33.81) Fall On Profit-Taking, Brent And WTI Diverge After Inventory Report

Details

It was a mixed session for commodities.

Commodities traded mixed today on a light session for news flow. The U.S. Dollar Index rose fractionally to 78.61, a gain of 0.08 percent.

• Precious metals were mixed today as gold and silver fell, while platinum and palladium rose. Gold was last trading lower by $16.20, or 0.93 percent, to $1729.27/oz, while silver shed $0.34, or 0.98 percent, to $33.81. Platinum rose by $11.25, or 0.68 percent, to $1662.50 and palladium gained $4, or 0.56 percent, to $714.
  
  "Should silver take out [$35.70], we will be in a technical breakout stage, possibly setting the complex up for a push to the $40 mark," said Edward Meir, an analyst at INTL FCStone.
  
  
• Crude oil was mixed after the release of the EIA's latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report. Brent was last trading up by $0.66, or 0.57 percent, to $116.89/bbl, while WTI lost $0.12, or 0.12 percent, to $98.29. That puts the spread between the two benchmarks at $18.60.
  
  The EIA reported that in the week ending Feb. 3, 2012, U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 0.3 million barrels, gasoline inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels, distillate inventories increased by 1.2 million barrels, and total petroleum inventories increased by 4.2 million barrels.
  
  
• Natural gas prices were lower by $0.02, or 0.77 percent, to $2.45/mmbtu as they hover about 10 percent above the recent $2.23 low. The latest weather forecasts remain bearish, with warmer-than-normal temperatures forecast for the major consumption regions of the United States.
  
  
• Grains were little changed ahead of Thursday's supply and demand data from the USDA. Corn was last trading up by $0.01, or 0.12 percent, to $6.43/bushel, while soybeans gained $0.01, or 0.1 percent, to $12.33, and wheat fell by $0.01, or 0.11 percent, to $6.62.
  
  "The trade seems quite intent upon seeing a report that has a relatively large cut in the corn carryout," said Dennis Gartman. "From what we've conjectured, it appears that the cut has to be at least 50 million to 60 million bushels from the department's report a month ago."
  
  
• Prices for copper were up by $0.02, or 0.61 percent, to $3.90/lb on Comex—near 4½ month highs. "Base metals are very macro sensitive. The mood in the broader market has improved today and the market is grasping at any bit of positive news," said VTB analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.