Oil prices rose on Wednesday (February 11th), supported by a combination of geopolitical risk premiums from US-Iran tensions and more solid Asian demand signals particularly from India which helped ease concerns about a market surplus. Market participants considered Middle East headlines to be "outweighing" the negative sentiment from the surge in US oil inventories. At 09:15 GMT, Brent rose 78 cents (+1.13%) to $69.77 per barrel, while WTI gained 75 cents (+1.18%) to $64.52 per barrel. This increase extended the gains of the past two days, as the market reassessed a "risk premium" on...
Gold prices weakened slightly on Thursday (February 12th), as more solid US employment data reduced market confidence in an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The strong employment data prompted market participants to shift expectations of a "quick rate cut," while a stronger dollar added pressure on the precious metal. Spot gold fell 0.42% to $5,062.94/oz. Other metals also corrected after a sharp rally the previous day. Silver fell 0.99% to $83.481/oz, indicating the market is beginning to cool down from the high volatility that had occurred. Pressure was also seen on precious...
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more "noise" than signals of a short-term surplus. As of 3:50 PM WIB, Brent was at $69.60/barrel (+0.29%) and WTI was at $64.83/barrel (+0.31%). The gains were moderate, but enough to keep prices near the psychological $70 level for Brent. From a geopolitical perspective, market focus is on the potential for escalation in the Middle East. Recent reports...