Commodity Opening Bell

Bullion - Opens on positive Note Gold -30370-30380 Silver -41750-41800 

Energy - Opens on mixed Note Crude Oil -3147-3148 Natural Gas -190-190.10 

Base Metals - Opens on mixed Note Copper -446-446.30 Nickel -781-781.50 Lead -149-149.20 Zinc - 200.10-200.30 Aluminium -134.50-134.20

COMMODITY MARKET NEWS

Gold prices rose to a one-year peak on Thursday after the dollar tumbled on the back of weak U.S. jobs data and an unchanged growth and inflation outlook from the European Central Bank. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits jumped to its highest in more than two years last week amid a surge in applications in hurricane-ravaged Texas, sending the dollar lower.

We expect silver prices to trade positive on the back of weak economic data from the US.

Oil futures were mixed on Thursday, with Brent rising to a 5-1/2 month high while U.S. crude slipped on a bigger-than expected crude stock build, as the restart of U.S. refiners after Hurricane Harvey was countered by the threat of Hurricane Irma. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday U.S. weekly crude stocks increased 4.6 million barrels last week, topping analysts' forecast for a 4.0-million-barrel build in a Reuters poll. Reflecting the impact of Harvey which hit the Gulf Coast on Aug. 25, the EIA said U.S. oil refinery utilization rates slumped 16.9 percentage points to 79.7 percent last week, the lowest rate since 2010.

Copper prices softened on Thursday as doubts about the strength of demand in top consumer China triggered profit-taking, though declines were kept in check by a weaker dollar on receding expectations of an imminent rise in interest rates. China said in June it will encourage wealth management firms to invest in commodity futures to promote its domestic derivatives industry and raise Chinese funds allocation to commodities