Platinum prices are precariously placed and look set to remain weak over the short term as demand continues to soften on the back of a recession in the eurozone, according to Business Monitor Online’s Commodities Service. Whilst palladium is looking stronger on a technical basis, we are not outright bullish on it either. Indeed, over… [Read more]

I am modestly bullish grains in 2011, although I do not foresee gains to the extent seen in 2010. The S&PGS grains index rallied roughly 50% over H210 following a slew of disappointing harvests in the northern hemisphere. In particular, downgrades to Russian wheat and US corn production were the key drivers over recent months…. [Read more]

My colleagues in BMI’s Commodities Team believe that many of the themes we have been highlighting in 2010 will continue to play out in 2011. In sum, the house view is that commodity prices will remain elevated over the course of next year, with cyclical commodities such as base metals potentially outperforming. We also see… [Read more]

Commodity markets should remain choppy as we head into an important period that could determine short-term direction for the US dollar. There are several potential fundamental triggers for a dollar comeback in the coming days, including the US midterm congressional elections on November 2 and the announcement on November 3 following the Federal Reserve’s meeting…. [Read more]

The short-term bounce in commodity prices has continued this week in line with firmer global equity markets and a slightly weaker US dollar. Greenback weakness has notably benefited precious metal prices, which are particularly sensitive to US dollar strength. My colleagues here at BMI see further upside potential for gold prices in the short term,… [Read more]

Gold prices have made significant ground in recent trading, prompting a surge of interest in the precious metal. Indeed, speculative interest in gold has risen to a 16-year high in recent days and the technical picture remains encouraging. Spot gold has broken above resistance around the US$990.00/oz level, and crucially, is currently sitting pretty above… [Read more]

Precious metals across the board have performed well in 2009, but I note that gold and silver have underperformed relative to platinum and especially palladium. As illustrated by the chart, palladium has outperformed, up 49% since January, followed by platinum (up by 30%), silver (up 23%) and gold (up 8%). This relative performance, I believe,… [Read more]