EUROPEAN COMMODITIES UPDATE: Crude attempts to nurse recent losses while precious metals are flat pre-data and base metals benefit from the Dollar pullback

Analysis details (10:29)

• WTI Jan and Brent Feb futures are firmer intraday amid the pullback in the Dollar coupled with some corrective price action after yesterday’s slump. Crude settled lower by almost USD 3/bbl yesterday and hit multi-month lows without a single clear catalyst cited for the magnitude of the move. That being said, desks are keeping an eye on the growth picture as Germany printed softer-than-expected Factory Orders yesterday and Industrial Output today, whilst China’s contraction in imports overnight underscore the fragility of the Chinese recovery while China deals with rising cases of a respiratory illness. Yesterday, Russian President Putin met with Saudi Crown Prince MBS but there was little released from the meeting. Today, the Iranian President landed in Moscow to meet President Putin – with the leaders expected to discuss “bilateral relations and regional issues”, according to Iranian press. On OPEC, Citi believes the slide in Brent to its lowest since June “boosts chances that OPEC+ will hold an emergency meeting in the next few weeks” – after the group underwhelmed markets last week with a delayed confab. WTI resides sub-USD 70/bbl (vs low 69.28/bbl) while Brent trades under USD 75/bbl (vs low 74.39/bbl).


• Spot gold tilts higher amid the softer Dollar but remains around recent ranges near USD 2,030/oz awaiting today’s US data ahead of Friday’s NFP. Challenger will release its layoffs data for November, while weekly initial jobless claims are seen ticking up a touch while continuing claims are seen easing slightly.  Base metals are benefitting from the Dollar pullback but are largely retracting some of yesterday’s heft losses. 3M copper trades on either side of USD 8,300/t in an 8,277-320/t daily parameter. Iron ore prices overnight climbed over 3% on the Dalian exchange after data from China's customs authority showed that the nation’s January-November iron ore imports rose 6.2% Y/Y.

07 Dec 2023 - 10:31- MetalsData- Source: Newsquawk