EUROPEAN COMMODITIES UPDATE: Industrials lower amid risk tone, gold bucks the trend on haven appeal

Crude Oil: WTI Dec -0.2%/Brent Jan -0.4%

• Subdued action across the board with sentiment feeling heavy amid the US administration's ongoing tariff rhetoric, on which Trump will have a news conference on April 2nd which is the "real Liberation Day" amid a swathe of tariffs.


• Aside from that, crude-specific drivers remain light with no notable updates on the Middle Eastern nor Russia-Ukraine fronts, although US Treasury Secretary Bessent said President Trump would not hesitate to raise sanctions on Russia if it gives him a negotiating advantage, according to a Fox News interview.


• Prices found somewhat of a floor around the time that Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister said that given the current circumstances, it is impossible that Russia will make any concessions on strategic stability, and there is no concrete agreement on the Black Sea deal.


• WTI May resides in a USD 69.22-69.96/bbl range while its Brent counterpart trades in a USD 73.35-73.97/bbl.


• Ahead, sentiment will likely dictate price action across the complex as the April 2nd tariff date nears, with traders then looking ahead to the April 5th OPEC+ JMMC meeting.

Nat Gas: Dutch TTF +0.5%/US Nat Gas -3.2%

• Dutch TTF shifts between modest gains and losses in early European hours, with complex-specific newsflow light this morning but with traders cognizant of the heating season coming to an end, with stockpiling season ahead.


• "Winter prices still command a small discount, but it’s becoming more likely that storage sites can be filled without interventions.", according to Bloomberg.

Precious Metals: Gold +0.5%, Silver +0.7%, Palladium +0.4%

• Mixed trade across precious metals despite the softer Dollar, with US trade policy continuing to be a grey cloud.


• Spot gold narrowly bucks the trend amid haven flows, but spot palladium looks ahead to auto tariffs whilst spot silver is relatively flat.


• Spot gold resides in a USD 3,017.65-3,038.70/oz range, with the next upside level the 31st March peak at USD 3,047.55/oz.

Base Metals: 3M LME Copper -0.9%

• Lower across the board despite the softer Dollar but amid the downbeat risk mood on the back of the aforementioned tariffs.


• Citi turned near-term bearish on ex-US copper pricing, revising the 0–3 month price target to USD 9,500/ton from USD 10,000/ton and seeing a 25% US copper import tariff imposed in Q2 2025. Citi sees copper easing to an average of USD 8,800/ton through H2 2025. Citi thinks Section 232 tariffs on US copper imports at 25% could be announced as soon as April and implemented by May.


• 3M LME copper current resides in a USD 9,828.80-9,997.75/t range at the time of writing.

27 Mar 2025 - 10:15- ForexGeopolitical- Source: Newsquawk