Commodity wrap: Crude oil gains over 1% in the week amid shifting signals from West Asia; gold, silver decline

From a marginal gain in crude oil prices to a significant decline in the precious metals, gold and silver, here is everything that went down with commodities this week.

Crude oil

In the international market, Brent Crude oil futures for delivery in August closed 2.04% lower at $93.09 per barrel (bbl) on Friday, June 5.

Over the week, however, the Brent Crude oil contract (August delivery) gained a little over 1%. The futures contract advanced for three days straight from Monday to Wednesday, hitting its week’s high of $98.99 per bbl on June 3. However, the contract declined for two consecutive days on Thursday and Friday. It touched a week’s low of $92.20 per bbl on June 1.

West Texas Index (WTI) crude oil futures for expiry in July ended 3% lower at $90.25 per bbl on June 5. However, over the week, it has risen more than 3%.

On the other hand, US President Donald Trump signaled optimism on negotiations with Iran, stating that the negotiations are “going quite well.”

Gold

Globally, COMEX gold for July delivery closed 3.11% lower at $4,348.5 per ounce on Friday, June 5. Over the week, the contract has fallen nearly 5%.

On the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), the safe-haven metal contract for delivery in August declined 3.3% over the week. It ended 2.48% lower at ₹1,55,594 per 10 grams on June 5.

The yellow metal offered a brief respite on Thursday, amid softer bond yields, a weaker US dollar, and cautious diplomatic optimism around Washington-Tehran talks, which lifted the metal.

However, the contract pared gains quickly once Hezbollah rejected the US-brokered Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.

On the domestic front, the RBI kept its benchmark repo rate unchanged at 5.25%, in line with market expectations, and announced a raft of measures to attract foreign capital and support the rupee amid growing risks to growth and inflation from the prolonged West Asia conflict, elevated energy prices, and global supply-chain disruptions.

Silver

In the international market, COMEX silver futures contracts for expiry in July closed in the negative territory for the fourth consecutive week, declining nearly 9% over the past five days.

Domestically, white metal futures also dropped, falling 7% this week on the MCX. They touched an intraday low of ₹2,47,286 per kilogram on Friday, June 5, reflecting a ₹17,510 or 6.61% decline from the closing price of ₹2,64,796 per kilogram in the previous session.