EUROPEAN COMMODITIES UPDATE: choppy trade in crude while base metals are subdued and gold looks heavy pre-NFP

Analysis details (10:31)

• 
  WTI March and Brent April futures are choppy as the contracts trimmed their earlier modest gains after both benchmarks settled lower by just over USD 0.50 apiece yesterday. Complex-specific news flow has been rather light in the European morning and in the run-up to the US jobs report. Participants are eyeing the EU ban on Russian oil which is poised to go into effect on Sunday – which will impact the Russian flow of naphtha and gasoil in Europe. Russia's Kremlin said the EU embargo on Russian petroleum products will further unbalance the energy market. Furthermore, the Russian Energy Minister said there is no reason to sharply reduce the output of Russian petroleum products because of the EU embargo, according to Interfax, and added that Russia is not mulling rescheduling maintenance at refineries amid the embargo. WTI trades on either side of USD 71/bbl (75.16-76.31/bbl range) while Brent briefly topped USD 82.50/bbl (81.5-82.62/bbl range) before pulling back.


• 
  Nat gas markets mixed with US CME Henry Hub futures flat, while Dutch TTF posts mild gains but remains within recent ranges. Yesterday, US gas prices were supported after Freeport LNG seeks federal approval to begin loading LNG on ships at Texas export facility.


• Over to metals, spot gold is flat intraday but with a downside bias despite the dollar waning throughout the European morning. Spot gold dipped under its 21 DMA (1,913.81) and yesterday’s low (1,911.17/oz) as it eyes the 1,900/oz market – which was tested earlier this week on the 31st Jan. Base metals are mostly lower whilst copper bucks the trend; LME copper tested levels close to USD 9,050/t (vs high 9,091/t) before finding some support.

03 Feb 2023 - 10:30- MetalsGeopolitical- Source: Newsquawk