COMMODITIES-Gold, cocoa surge; other U.S. markets quiet after snowstorm – RTRS
03-Jan-2014 16:19
(Recasts with rally in coffee; updates with settlements in CRB, gold and cocoa)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Gold rose to two-week highs on Friday and coffee and cocoa also rallied while many other commodities fell after a snowstorm slammed the U.S. northeast, keeping traders from their desks and thinning market volumes.
A firmer dollar .DXY also weakened demand for commodities priced in the U.S. currency from holders of the euro EUR=. USD/
U.S. stocks pared gains while bond prices remained modestly higher after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke expressed cautious optimism about the economy, saying the central bank will stick to a stimulative policy even as it buys fewer bonds. (Full Story) US/
The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters/Core Commodity CRB index .TRJCRBTR settled down 0.3 percent after a heavy snowstorm and dangerously low temperatures hit the northeastern United States, delaying flights, paralysing road travel and closing schools and government offices. (Full Story)
For the week, the CRB fell 2.7 percent, its worst weekly slide in two months, after factoring in losses in three of the past four trading sessions.
“The outlook for commodities isn’t all that great in 2014, and with the confluence of the snowstorm and back-to-back holidays, it isn’t surprising that we’re seeing a slow trot into the new year,” said Adam Sarhan, president at Sarhan Capital, a New York-based financial advisory.
Gold rose to a two-week high as the precious metal saw fresh buying after hitting a six-month low earlier this week. Weaker global demand for equities since the start of the year also helped bullion recapture some its faded allure as a safe-haven asset.
The spot price of bullion XAU= was up 1 percent at above $1,236 an ounce after hitting $1,238.70 earlier – its highest since Dec. 18. For the week, it rose 2 percent.
Gold has been on the rebound since losing nearly 30 percent in 2013, ending a 12-year bull run, largely due to Fed’s move to unwind its long-running monetary stimulus. GOL/
Analysts, however, cautioned that it was too early in the year to say if bullion would sustain its nascent recovery.
“We need to make a solid move back above the $1,270 area to really rattle the cage,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. “That would take us above the recent highs and would signal a break of this downtrend that we’ve had since 2012.”
Arabica coffee surged more than percent, its sharpest one-day gain in nearly four months, as speculators covered their short positions.
New York-traded arabica for March delivery KCH4 closed up 4.95 cents, or 4.4 percent, to close at $1.1635 per pound. London-traded robusta coffee also rallied, with the March contract LRCc2 rising $30, or 1.9 percent, to end at $1,644 a tonne.
Cocoa futures rebounded from seven-week lows in the previous session.
New York’s March cocoa CCH4 rose 2.4 percent to $2,699 a tonne.
London’s March cocoa LCCc2 was also up 2.4 percent, at 1,717 pounds a tonne.
Fundamentally, the outlook for cocoa had improved with many traders predicting a sharp tail-off in cocoa arrivals at ports in top growing country Ivory Coast in the coming weeks because of drier than normal weather. SOF/L
Prices at 3:57 p.m. EST (2057 GMT)
LAST/      NET    PCT     YTD
CLOSE      CHG    CHG     CHG
US crude         CLc1       94.20    -1.24  -1.3%    2.6%
Brent crude      LCOc1     106.96    -0.82  -0.8%   -3.7%
Natural gas      NGc1       4.304   -0.017  -0.4%   28.4%
 
US gold          GCG4     1238.60    13.40   1.1%  -26.1%
Gold             XAU=     1237.21    12.70   1.0%  -26.1%
US Copper        HGH4        3.36    -0.03  -0.8%   -8.1%
LME Copper       CMCU3    7315.00   -78.00  -1.1%   -7.8%
Dollar           .DXY      80.883    0.253   0.3%    5.4%
CRB              .TRJCRB  276.530   -0.878  -0.3%   -6.3%
 
US corn          Cc1       423.50     3.50   0.8%  -39.3%
US soybeans      Sc1      1289.25     2.25   0.2%   -9.1%
US wheat         Wc1       605.75     8.75   1.5%  -22.1%
 
US Coffee        KCH4      116.35     4.95   4.4%  -19.1%
US Cocoa         CCH4     2699.00    63.00   2.4%   20.7%
US Sugar         SBH4       16.08    -0.21  -1.3%  -17.6%
 
US silver        SIH4      20.211   20.010   1.6%  -33.1%
US platinum      PLF4     1411.50     9.60   0.0%   -8.3%
US palladium     PAH4      731.20     0.95   0.1%    4.0%
 
Source: Reuters