Open: London Session | Forex, Metals, Oil, Agriculture February 12, 2021

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.07 per cent to 90.48. The dollar headed for its firstlosing week in three as new signs of weakness in the U.S. jobsmarket dented investor expectations about the pace of a pandemic recovery. The dollar remained on the back foot on Friday, pinned near two-week lows, after the release of weaker-than-expected weekly U.S. jobless claims data the previous day.
“The US dollar Index has started flat this morning in Asian trade as the markets look to fresh triggers in the market. The rupee appreciated by 10 paise to 72.77 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday supported by positive domestic equities and sustained foreign fund inflows. That added to recent concerns that the dollar’s previous rally had priced in too fast a pace of rebound for the U.S. economy. The dollar was mostly flat at 104.77 yen, down 0.6% from the end of last week.
less BL Research BureauThe rupee (INR) closed flat last session at 72.86 versus the dollar (USD). Also, the dollar looks to be weak now. The euro was little changed at $1.21275,consolidating for a third day near that level as it headed for a0.6% weekly advance.

According to the International Copper Study Group, “At the heart of the electric vehicle, copper is used throughout because of its high electrical conductivity, durability and malleability. The need for copper is exponentially greater in electric vehicles as compared to conventional cars. It would also require the mining of millions more tons of base metals, including copper and nickel. It is also used in solar panels, the fastest growing source of industrial demand for silver.
Silver is used in virtually all high-tech components of electric vehicles. A battery-powered electric vehicle averages a massive180 pounds of copper– six times as much. Gold and silver aren’t the only viable plays in the metals space – and they aren’t currently the leaders. A typical gas-powered car requires about 30 pounds of copper. US gold futures fell 0.19 per cent to $1,823.30. On Wednesday, both copper and platinum rallied up to multi-year highs.

Generally, we still expect a continuous rise in inflation driven mainly by the rise in oil and commodity prices as well as the previous year supportive base effect. The increase in inflation was mainly driven by the recent recovery in energy prices especially oil and gasoline as well as commodity prices. According to OPEC, the global oil demand is likely to recover more slowly than earlier thought. Elsewhere, oil traded in New York ended eight days of gains — its longest winning streak in two years.
Nevermind that such a move would mean more burning of coal and natural gas to generate the electricity needed for millions of “zero emission” vehicles. Image Source: Pixabay The Zero Emission Transportation Association, a lobbying group backed by Tesla and other corporate interests, is pushing for the abolition of gasoline-powered cars by 2030.

The S&P 500 gained 0.17 per cent, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.38 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.02 per cent. The U.S CPI (seasonally adjusted) annualized data for January came slightly above the previous one at 1,4% from 1,3% in December. The past two weeks broke a lot of people s brains on how Wall Street works, so here are some lessons from the Reddit rebellion.

This week, we also learned that months before Beijing’s crackdown, officials were spooked by an online scandal involving an Alibaba executive. Beijing swiftly blocked access, but the fleeting moment shows how different things could be.

They did not resolve the key disagreements over trade that have soured the U.K.-EU relationship in the six weeks since Brexit was completed.