Written by Sumit Roy  |

August 06, 2012

Market Wrap: Gold Rallies To $1613, Brent Tops $109 As Jobs Optimism Supports; Grains Underperform

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Sentiment in financial markets remained positive today.

Commodities traded mixed-to-higher today, as sentiment in financial markets remained positive following Friday's better-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. There were no major macroeconomic releases in the session.

In Europe, Spanish 10-year bond yields—currently seen as the best gauge of eurozone sovereign debt fears—fell by 11 basis points to 6.74 percent.

The U.S Dollar Index fell by 0.14 percent to 82.26.

• Gold prices outperformed today, after underperforming other commodities over the past several weeks. The yellow metal was last trading up by $9.50, or 0.59 percent, to $1613, while silver rose by $0.18, or 0.65 percent, to $27.98.
  
  Platinum lost $2, or 0.14 percent, to $1400 and palladium shed $3, or 0.52 percent, to $583.
  
  "We expect the wider June-July range to remain intact, with some dull trading for gold at the start of this week as players take a breather from Friday's action, focusing on euro zone headlines," said analysts at VTB Capital.
  
  
• Crude oil was slightly higher today after jumping more than $3 on Friday. Brent was last trading up by $0.20, or 0.18 percent, to $109.14, while WTI rose by 0.65, or 0.71 percent, to $92.05.
  
  
• Natural gas rebounded from earlier losses, as bargain hunters stepped in to buy. However, updated weather forecasts calling for a cooling of temperatures across the United States over the next two weeks kept a lid on prices.
  
  Gas was last trading at $2.92/mmbtu, up $0.04, or 1.49 percent.
  
  
• The grain complex was lower across the board. Corn was last trading down by $0.05, or 0.67 percent, to $8.05/bushel, while soybeans fell by $0.41, or 2.5 percent, to $16.15 and wheat sank $0.01, or 0.1 percent, to $8.90.
  
  "The bulls don't have anything more to play with," said grains analyst Dale Durchholz of AgriVisor. "Everyone feels the market is at a tipping point."
  
  
• Copper was last trading up by $0.02, or 0.58 percent, to $3.39/lb on Comex.
  
  "Longer term we see a bottoming-out process, which is likely to soon be over, and stabilization of the market. We're likely to see falling inventories, mine closures in some metals and a pickup in Chinese buying," said Eugen Weinberg, of Commerzbank.