Written by Sumit Roy  |

January 14, 2013

Morning Call: Gold Rises As Platinum Spikes To 3-Month High, NatGas Rallies On Cold Weather Forecasts

Details

Commodities are higher across the board.

Commodities are solidly higher today. News flow is light, with no notable economic data scheduled for release. Stocks are little changed, but remain near the highest levels since December 2007 amid high levels of investor optimism.

In currency markets, the U.S. Dollar Index was last trading fractionally higher to 79.59.

• Gold and silver are higher today as the duo continues to seesaw up and down. The yellow metal was last trading up by $11.55, or 0.69 percent, to $1674.35, while the gray metal added $0.62, or 2.04 percent, to $31.09.
  
  Platinum rallied by $28.75, or 1.76 percent, to $1661—a three-month high—and palladium rose by $8.65, or 1.23 percent, to $709.65.
  
  "We are going to make it to the parity [with gold] and a possible $50 premium in platinum. But the global economy is still on a weak footing and it will be too early to call a $100 premium," said Dominic Schnider, analyst at UBS Wealth Management.
  
  "You have a metal which is more expensive to produce than gold, whose supply is not growing and whose market is expected to be in a deficit, such metal should trade at a premium to gold," he said.
  Platinum set to hit parity with gold, but comeback may be a blip
  
  
• Crude oil is higher today. Brent was last trading up by $0.67, or 0.61 percent, to $111.31, while WTI added $0.40, or 0.43 percent, to $93.96.
  
  "Today is a partial recovery from Friday's sharp losses, which were hard to justify," said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank. "The demand side is improving while supply has been cut. The general theme is that over-supply is going to shrink."
  Oil rises above $111 on supply concern, growth hopes
  
  
• Natural gas was last trading up by $0.04, or 1.32 percent, to $3.37/mmbtu. The latest weather forecasts show colder-than-normal temperatures across the U.S. East Coast and Midwest regions over the next two-week period.
  Would exporting the natural gas surplus help the economy or hurt?
  
  
• Grains are higher again today as Friday's Crop Report from the USDA continues to fuel buying. Corn was last trading up by $0.15, or 2.05 percent, to $7.23/bushel, while soybeans rose by $0.19, or 1.35 percent, to $14.44 and wheat rose by $0.16, or 2.15 percent, to $7.71.
  
  "A sharp increase in demand and tightening grain stockpiles mean the January USDA reports were supportive for corn prices," Luke Mathews, strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said.
  Crop prices advance after U.S. supply shrinks more than expected
  
  
• Copper was last trading up by $0.02, or 0.53 percent, to $3.67/lb on Comex.
  Copper climbs on stimulus signal, China equities jump
  
  
  

What to Watch For:

No notable releases