Profit street blog | stock and commodity market news

It is common for commodities to drop in unison, says technical analyst Clive Maund, and in tandem with his prediction that oil will drop, he also sees gold and silver going lower. It is common for commodities to drop in unison, especially metals and oil. In my article on oil, I observed that oil looks set to drop hard soon. This was given added significance by the sharp drop in Precious Metals stocks Feb. 27, that calls time on the recent gold and silver rally that occurred this year to date. That drop in the precious metals sector, which occurred without a concomitant drop in gold and silver, was the market “tipping its hand” because stocks tend to lead the metals, so we can expect gold and silver to follow suit shortly and drop—along with oil and copper. On the 6-month chart for gold we can see that the uptrend is weakening, with it taking the form of a bearish Rising Wedge, and as it has now arrived at significant resistance near to its still falling 200-day moving average, ...

A sharp decline in commodity prices and a selloff in U.S. Treasurys weighed on global sentiment, sending key Asia-Pacific markets lower early Friday.Some equity investors were taking a breather from a recent buying spree ahead of comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen later today. The timing of the Fed’s next rate increase will be in focus. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.95%   declined 1%, with a decline in commodities hurting large-cap shares. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average NIK, -0.64%   was down 0.2%, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index STI, -0.89%   fell 1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.62%   declined 0.8%. –– ADVERTISEMENT –– Overnight in the U.S., oil prices fell due to a stronger U.S. dollar and an increase in crude inventory . Brent, the global crude oil benchmark, fell 2.3% to $55.08 a barrel overnight and was down an additional 0.1% early in Asia on Friday.Australian oil firm Santos STO, -2.65%   ...

That seems to be one takeaway from the surge in stocks and other assets in the global “risk-on” rally that followed Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. After all, the speech was notably short on details. But the sober tone was hailed as more befitting the office and roundly cited as a factor in a global rally by equities that saw the DJIA, +1.46%  top 21,000 for the first time ever as the S&P 500 SPX, +1.37%  and other major Wall Street indexes set new records. See: Trump shifts tone but not policies in speech to Congress Some investors and analysts, however, question just how big of a factor policy proposals have been in driving a record-busting U.S. equity rally. Read: Dow tops 21,000—on pace for fastest milestone in history “There weren’t too many surprises regarding the programs Trump wants to implement, but the specific details and timeline are still scarce, adding to the argument that the market maybe isn’t as polic...

Passive investment funds are poised to shift an estimated $2 billion from far-term to near-term crude futures over the next week, anticipating an energy market rally as a historic Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries  (Opec) output cut slashes supply. The switch may foreshadow the end of a global oil glut that built up during a two-year price war.  On Friday — for the first time in six years — a rule in one of the most popular commodity market indices was triggered, requiring funds tracking the index to sell Brent crude futures contracts for December and to buy contracts for June . The S&P GSCI Enhanced Commodity Index rule aims to ensure that investors are positioned to cash in when oil market fundamentals change  in this case, when supply becomes so tight that the current price of oil becomes higher than the price of oil for delivery many months or years into the future. That structure is called backwardation.  When markets are oversuppli...

Gold prices edged up on Monday on technical buying and a weaker dollar after mixed US jobs data late last week muted expectations for near-term interest rate hikes.Spot gold had gained 0.3 per cent to $1,223 per ounce by 0300 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.4 per cent to $1,225.10 per ounce. US jobs growth surged more than expected in January as construction firms and retailers ramped up hiring, but wages barely rose, handing the administration under President Donald Trump both a head start and a challenge as it seeks to boost the economy. The dollar Index was down 0.2 per cent at 99.723.“Gold is pointing to push higher from all fronts on charts," said Brian Lan, managing director at gold dealer Gold Silver Central in Singapore. “Gold should be testing $1,225 today and the next resistance level would be around $1,230.” Spot gold may rise towards resistance at $1,249 per ounce, as it has managed to stand above resistance at $1,219, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang T...