BZUSDBrent Crude Oil

Oil and silver decline against a jump in natural gas and copper in mid-European trading

Downward pressure on oil and silver due to increased US inventories and rising borrowing costs, against strong gains for gas and copper. Oil prices saw clear selling pressure as Brent crude fell below 100 dollars, influenced by American Petroleum Institute (API) data which showed an actual increase in inventories of 1.786 million barrels compared to expectations of a decrease of -0.5. Prices also fell globally in conjunction with diplomatic moves at the United Nations and hopes for de-escalation between Washington and Tehran, which eased the risk premium despite the VLCC tanker earnings index to China reaching 1.21 million dollars per day with the continued risks of the Strait of Hormuz. Natural gas (NGUSD) continued its rise by 2.76%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) achieved strong gains of 5.85%. This rise is driven by fears of a ban on US energy exports, a jump in European diesel contracts, and the rise of the dollar. In the base metals sector, copper (CPER) rose by 1.87%, reflecting a divergence from precious metals, while TotalEnergies adopted the final investment decision to develop the Ima gas field in Nigeria to enhance future supplies. Silver (XAGUSD) recorded a decline of -2.75%, and palladium (PAUSD) fell by -1.60% during the session. This decline coincides with the 30-year mortgage rate (MBA) rising to 7.12 compared to the previous value of 6.97. These pressures on precious metals reflect investors moving away from non-yielding assets in light of rising borrowing costs, despite the positive performance of platinum shares (PPLT) which bucked the trend by rising 1.84%, while platinum futures fell by -2.00%.