Profit street blog | stock and commodity market news

Commodities, both agri and non-agri, witnessed a slump in prices this week. In the agri commodity basket, coriander suffered the most, while in the non-agri category prices of crude oil, gold, copper and nickel slipped significantly.  Crude oil prices have been in a falling territory since past few weeks as prices have declined by around 3.2 per cent since 19th April- 1st May 2017, while MCX oil prices have declined by 4.5 percent in the same time frame. Fading geo-political tension between US and Syria and US and North Korea and increasing oil inventories in the US have resulted in a drop in prices.  "We have noticed fall in all the risk assets including oil as market sentiments remains weak across the globe. Linkage international prices and domestic prices will not change any basic fundamentals, except the adaptation of price behaviour linked to markets. Oil inventories have to fall constantly, which can only happen if the summer driving season starts with a bang ...

Akshaya Tritiya, which falls on the coming Friday, is considered an auspicious day to buy the precious metal and this year we might witness a spurt in gold demand. The waning effect of demonetisation coupled with the recent strength of the rupee has made the asset class look attractive. But before taking the decision, it is worth considering the factors that might impact gold prices in the future as a large part of this incremental purchase is likely to be from the perspective of investment rather than consumption. The return on gold investment for Indians would be a function of two broad factors – the movement of gold prices in the international market and the behaviour of Indian currency vis-a-vis the US Dollar. How did gold fare in 2016? After the stellar run in the first half of 2016, gold failed to hold on to the gains in the second half and ended the year with a point to point gains of 8 percent in prices. Volume growth was even more tepid, growing at 2 percent. ...

Johannesburg - Gold prices fell on Monday on a company greenback and as buyers booked profits after bullion recorded its best quarter in a yr on Friday. Spot gold edged lower by way of zero.2 % to $1246.eighty four (R16 705.eighty) per ounce at 9.30am in the big apple, while US gold futures slipped 0.2 % to $1248.9. The buck index reinforced 0.15 percent against a basket of main currencies, pulling away from four-month lows plumbed closing week. “Gold is stuck between $1238 to $1260 with the danger to skewed to downside in response to rising anticipated interest rates and failure to interrupt greater which has left it liable to revenue-taking within the brief term,” mentioned Ole Hansen, the head of commodity technique at Saxo bank. A Federal Reserve professional stated on Friday that the Fed may pause rate of interest hikes when it starts offevolved shedding its bond holdings, a transfer that might merit gold. Gold is extremely exposed to interest rates as they raise...