Oil warms to prolonged cutback pledge<\/p>\n
LONDON (AFP): Crude prices jumped back above US$21 a barrel to
\nthe highest level since October 1997 after Saudi Arabia, Mexico
\nand Venezuela pledged to maintain production cutbacks until March
\n2000.<\/p>\n
Brent North Sea crude on the International Petroleum Exchange
\n(IPE) rose to $21.04 a barrel for October delivery.<\/p>\n
And in New York, light sweet crude prices bounced back to
\n$21.49.<\/p>\n
The pledges underpinned renewed faith in the oil market, in a
\ncontinuation of gains seen since April, when OPEC producer
\ncountries agreed to reduce production by 1.7 million barrels per
\nday.<\/p>\n
Other important producer countries also agreed to reduce
\nproduction, taking total cutback pledges to 2.1 million barrels a
\nday.<\/p>\n
The cuts were designed to lift crude out of the morass that
\nhad seen oil prices down at the 10-dollar mark.<\/p>\n
Analysts said that the latest pronouncement was likely to
\npresage a similar statement of intent from the full Organization
\nof Petroleum Exporting Countries when it meets on September 22.<\/p>\n
Gold: rebound. Gold gained from a weaker dollar against the
\nyen, which makes the dollar-denominated contracts more attractive
\nto Asian investors, and from stronger platinum group prices.<\/p>\n
The gold spot price on the London Bullion Market rose by $1.5
\nto $255.5 an ounce.<\/p>\n
The dollar fell to its lowest level since January against the
\nyen, in part due to renewed international confidence in the
\nJapanese economy and in part because of a string of losses on
\nWall Street.<\/p>\n
But gold's resurgence was limited ahead of the next Bank of
\nEngland bullion auction on September 21.<\/p>\n
Prices hit a 20-year low point after the central bank's first
\ngold sale in July. Britain plans to sell off half its gold
\nreserves to hold currency assets instead of metal.<\/p>\n
Silver: gilded. Silver prices once again followed gold higher
\nand gained further from technical purchases.<\/p>\n
On the London Bullion Market, an ounce of silver rose by seven
\ncents to $5.14 an ounce.<\/p>\n
Platinum and palladium: shine. These two sister metals gained
\nfrom the rise of the yen against the dollar and from figures
\nshowing strong car sales around the world.<\/p>\n
On the London Palladium and Platinum Market, palladium prices
\nrose by five dollars to $345 an ounce and platinum prices gained
\none dollar to $349.5 an ounce.<\/p>\n
The rally of the yen to seven-month highs against the dollar
\naided demand for palladium in Japan, which is the world's most
\nhungry consumer of the metal.<\/p>\n
Palladium is most widely used in the manufacture of catalytic
\nconverters for cars.<\/p>\n
Base metals: strong. Base metals advanced strongly last week
\non the London Metal Exchange thanks to robust demand, technical
\ntrades and supply side factors.<\/p>\n
Aluminum prices also pushed higher while zinc hit its highest
\npoint since November 1997 albeit amid a limited trading volume.<\/p>\n
Three-month copper prices gained $96 to $1,760 per ton as
\nofficial LME stocks contracted by 3,025 tons to 786,350 tons.<\/p>\n
Nickel prices gained $462.5 a ton to $7.045, though reserves
\nswelled by 366 tons to 50,502 tons.<\/p>\n
Three-month aluminum rose by $28.7 to $1,506 per ton. Stocks
\nrose by 2,125 tons to 7+8 375 tons.<\/p>\n
Zinc put on 35.2 dollars to 1,197 dollars per ton, despite LME
\nstocks rising by 1,800 tons to 283,150 tons.<\/p>\n
Lead prices rose by $5.75 to $533 per ton.<\/p>\n
Three-month tin prices rose by 67.5 dollars to $5,275 per ton.<\/p>\n
Rubber: bouncy. Rubber prices firmed further last week as
\ninterest in the market picked up, while no further news emerged
\non the decision of Thailand and Malaysia to quit the
\nInternational Natural Rubber Organization (INRO), which
\nintervenes in the market through a buffer stock.<\/p>\n
The London rubber index ended the week at 417.50 pounds per
\nton for October delivery from 410 pounds, and at 422.50 pounds
\nper ton for November, from 415.<\/p>\n
In Kuala Lumpur, the RSS1 index stood at 2.16 ringgits from
\n2.14, while the SMR 20 indices for rubber used in tire
\nmanufacture stood at 2.20 ringgits from 2.13.<\/p>\n
Cocoa: warm. Cocoa prices gained from a general improvement on
\nthe commodity markets last week, in spite of plentiful supply
\nfrom west Africa.<\/p>\n
Prices on the London market rose by six pounds to 654 pounds
\nper ton.<\/p>\n
Supply from west Africa was rife.<\/p>\n
Cote d'Ivoire, which is the world's leading producer country,
\nhas reaped more than 1.2 million tons of cocoa in the 1998-1999
\nseason, compared with 1.008 million during the previous year, to
\ngive a 19-percent increase.<\/p>\n
Coffee: blend. The international coffee markets were divided
\nlast week, with modest losses in London and a slight upturn in
\nNew York, prompted by a surge of exports on the one hand and
\nfears of drought in Brazil on the other.<\/p>\n
Robusta for November delivery on the London market lost eight
\ndollars to $1,342 a ton.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in New York, Arabica for December delivery rose to
\n94.10 cents a pound from 91.75 cents.<\/p>\n
London prices were hit by International Coffee Organization
\nfigures showing a rise of eight percent in global coffee exports
\nbetween October and July to 71,038,902 sacks.<\/p>\n
Sugar: spice. Sugar prices picked up last week as the
\ntraditional slow summer season drew to a close and market players
\nfactored in a likely strong demand from Russia later in the
\nwinter.<\/p>\n
On the London market, contracts for December delivery put on
\nmore than seven dollars to $188.8 a ton from $181.50.<\/p>\n
Vegetable oils: slick. US soya prices recouped losses last
\nweek as dealers anticipated lower output estimates from the US
\nAgriculture Department due out next Friday.<\/p>\n
On the Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT), soya prices put on 28
\ncents a bushel to 4.89 cents for September delivery.<\/p>\n
Cotton: light. Cotton prices lost further ground in light
\ntrading volume last week.<\/p>\n
Hurricane Dennis had no impact on U.S. growing regions.
\nDealers predicted that a new market system in China might lead to
\nlower prices there and thus increase demand from overseas
\ninvestors.<\/p>\n
New York prices contracted by 1.3 cents to 49.50 cents a
\npound.<\/p>\n
Cash prices covered by the Cotton Outlook index also lost 1.3
\ncents to 48.80 cents.<\/p>\n
Wool: cold. Australian wool prices continued to fall amid low
\ndemand.<\/p>\n
The Eastern index lost 13 cents to A$5.48 a kilo.<\/p>\n
There were no auctions in Britain. The Wooltops index lost 22
\npence to 2842 pence per kilo.<\/p>\n
Tea: brewing. Demand picked up in the Mombasa auction houses
\nas higher grade leaves came to market.<\/p>\n
Top quality BP1 (Broken Pekoe) leaves gained up to 12 cents
\nper kilo.<\/p>\n
PF1 (Pekoe Fannings) tea rose by up to 20 cents.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/oil-warms-to-prolonged-cutback-pledge-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }