Oil prices steady ahead of OPEC meeting on supply cut extension

Commodity Opening Bell 

Bullion - Opens on positive Note Gold -29660-29700 Silver -40000-40030 

Energy - Opens on positive Note Crude Oil -3300-3305 Natural Gas -192.20-192.50

 

Base Metals - Opens on negative Note Copper -420-420.50 Nickel -688-690 Lead -158-157.50 Zinc - 197.50-198 Aluminium -137.30-137.50

COMMODITY MARKET NEWS

Gold fell about 1 percent to its lowest in nearly four weeks on Thursday, shrugging off further weakness in the dollar, after the Federal Reserve signalled it was on track to raise U.S. interest rates again in December. The metal is highly sensitive to rising U.S. rates, which boost the cost of holding non-yielding bullion relative to other assets, while lifting the dollar, in which it is priced.

Silver was down 1.1 percent at $16.94 an ounce, after falling to its lowest since Aug. 25 earlier in the session at $16.80.

Oil prices settled nearly flat on Thursday, the eve of a meeting of major oil-producing countries in Vienna to discuss whether they will extend production limits that have helped reduce the global crude glut.

We expect Natural gas prices to trade sideways on the back of short covering after drop in prices

Copper hit its lowest in more than a month and nickel slid as much as 6 percent on Thursday after the Federal Reserve raised expectations of another U.S. interest rate hike this year, boosting the dollar. The Fed said on Wednesday it expected one more increase by the end of the year, driving the dollar to a two-month high versus the yen on Thursday and making dollar-priced metals costlier for nonU.S. investors. China's top copper smelters have raised the floor for fourthquarter treatment and refining charges by as much as 10 percent. The global world refined copper market showed a 70,000 tonne deficit in June, compared with a 50,000 tonne deficit in May. The Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) said it would triple the transaction fee on its nickel contract for January 2018 delivery in its latest bid to snuff out speculators. LME nickel fell by more than 6 percent during the session but ended down 3.3 percent at $11,005 a tonne. LME aluminium eased from five-year highs reached the previous session to finish down 0.3 percent at $2,171 a tonne but expectations of tighter supply into early next year underpinned prices.