Open: New York Session | Forex, Metals, Oil, Agriculture December 14, 2020

A member of the National Guard plays a trumpet during a flag rai

Agriculture

Ukrainian 12.5% protein wheat traded at $252-$256 per tonne FOB Black Sea at the end of past week, the consultancy said in a report. Malaysian palm oil futures gained for a third straight session, on higher prices of rival soybean and crude oil, with expectations of lower output aiding sentiment. It also covers the commodities market daily focusing on in-depth technical developments in GOLD, CRUDE OIL, SILVER, CORN & WHEAT. For the lower-quality 11.5% protein wheat, prices were between $251 and $255 a tonne.

Currencies

“Weakness of the US dollar, optimism surrounding vaccine roll-out, dollar inflows into local equities could keep depreciation bias limited. Other top currencies included the New Zealand dollar (+0.69%), the Swiss franc (+0.25%), the Japanese yen (+0.20%), and the Canadian dollar (+0.11%). Add up all these input costs and you can come up with your output per dollar, output per hour of labor or an output per unit of energy. The steepest rise against the US dollar was shown by the Australian dollar (+1.42%).
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading down 0.20 per cent at 90.79. Americans have had the benefit of decades, 30+ years of importing deflation via cheaper labor and having a strong dollar readily accepted from our trading partners. But the losses of the yellow metal were capped by the 0.2% decline in the U.S. dollar index, which made the bullion less expensive for investors using rival currencies.
The extension to talks has however boosted Sterling (FXB) which is trading up 1.3% and 1% against the dollar (UDN) and euro (FXE) respectively. BL Research BureauThe rupee (INR) strengthened marginally last week and ended 13 paise higher at 73.65 versus 73.78 against the dollar (USD). The British pound rose 1.3% against the dollar and 1% against the euro.

Metals

At Tabasco, hole FA-19-086 intersected 22.73 g/t gold over 48.01 meters, and hole FA-19-086-W1 intersected 9.06 g/t gold over 40.05 meters. The vast property is situated right to the east of Kirkland Lake Gold’s (KL) Detour Gold mine. Worth noting is also hole A52-20-18 that intersected 1.06 meters grading 858 g/t gold, at a depth of only 101 meters, at the Reaper zone. The 13% decline occurred although the gold price increased by 21%, Wallbridge delivered many great drill results, moreover, it acquired Balmoral Resources, expanding its resources and exploration potential significantly.
Balmoral Resources drilled 519 holes totaling 133,852 meters, to delineate the current gold resource of 590,642 toz indicated and 53,344 toz inferred. MARKET NEWS Gold prices dipped as COVID-19 vaccine rollouts lifted riskier assets, overshadowing hopes for further U.S. fiscal and monetary stimulus. Based on the provided estimates, the Tabasco zone alone has the potential to contain 1.6-4.4 million toz gold.
In global markets, gold prices eased today as risk sentiment improved as the US prepares to start its Covid-19 vaccination program from today. It will probably struggle for the next several months (unless the gold price returns back to the $2,000/toz level, or a new huge discovery is announced). Even with the recent volatility in prices, gold remains among the best-performing commodities this year to combat the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Oil

Saudi seaborne crude exports for last week were seen at 47.1 million bbl (6.7 million bpd) compared to the revised 38.7 million bbl (5.5 million bpd) the week prior. The OPEC+ group is set to meet on 4th Jan 2021 to take stock of the oil markets and decide the way forward for the rest of the period. Refinitiv Oil Research has assessed that the transatlantic gasoline departures remained thin this week as poor arbitrage economics weighed on the road fuel. The United States kicked off its vaccination campaign against COVID-19, lifting hopes that pandemic restrictions could end soon and lift demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
On the sectoral front, stocks from the oil & gas sector and metal sector are witnessing most of the buying interest. US crude output for the week of Dec 06 held steady at 11.1 million bpd. Meanwhile, a tanker explosion in Saudi Arabia also stoked concerns about the security of oil supply. For real time export numbers please refer to the Oil Flows Explorer on Eikon.
January CFR naphtha-Brent cracks were $0.02 higher at $0.07/bbl; 1Q ’21 traded $0.07 higher at -$0.01/bbl while the 1H Cal ’21 advanced $0.08 at -$0.34/bbl.
Front month January WTI futures were up $0.19 at $47.21/bbl, with the other 49-month forward contracts trading between -$0.12 and $0.25.

United States

There is first and foremost, monetary inflation that comes from the issuance of money or in the case of the US, debt, as we have a debt-based money system. The Trump administration’s blunt approach succeeded in kneecapping Huawei, with even non-American companies forced to comply with its broad restrictions. US stock futures are trading higher today, indicating a positive opening for Wall Street indices. The Trump administration has restricted the Chinese telecom equipment company’s access to chips made using U.S. technology.
Hence, the US was able to issue lots of money without the monetary inflation that comes with it. A week before Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017 and submerged Houston in a record-shattering 60 inches of rain, Trump rescinded the order. The Supreme Court – a third nominated by Trump – rejected an attempt to overturn results in several key states. Uber has rocketed over 48% since the US election win in California – hence the bulk of the gains have come recently.
The company operates in over 170 countries, the U.S being their primary market comprising roughly 50% of total revenues. FedEx and Micron (NASDAQ:MU) will report over the next two weeks and those companies – given their operating leverage – have volatile EPS.

China

China’s CSI 300 index climbed 0.97% on the back of news that Beijing will step up its fiscal support efforts in the near term. ‘We Have No Choice but to Follow the Party.’ Xi Jinping, long distrustful of the private sector, is moving assertively to bring it to heel.

Europe

Investors are hopeful that the U.K. and the European Union will strike a trade deal after both sides agreed to continue negotiations past a Sunday deadline. : The Sunday deadline came and went with the EU and the UK deciding on extending the talks – or “going the extra mile” as both announced. A final Brexit without a deal could have a negative impact on the European economy, financial markets and border relations. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to “go the extra mile” to reach a trade agreement.
The EU and the UK negotiators appear to be down to the fisheries issue as the sole stumbling block to a comprehensive deal. less • Underperforms EU peers • Dragged lower by stronger pound which is boosted buy Brexit optimism • BoE in focus later in the week. Last year, the EU and the UK announced the Withdrawal Agreement two weeks ahead of the Halloween deadline. Merkel consistently called for tighter curbs, but the federal states refused to go along until a crisis meeting yesterday.
Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator tweeted, “It is our responsibility to give the talks every chance of success. Last-ditch EU-UK trade talks were rolled back until Sunday.

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