Asia / Pacific

Investors weighed Middle East tensions which could disrupt supply and a major obstacle remains in the Russia-Ukraine talks. Brent crude futures rose 57 cents, or 0.94%, to $61.21 a barrel at?0112 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), however was up 54 cents, or 0.95%. The benchmark prices of both oil and gold fell by more than 2 percent on Friday, as investors considered a global glut of supply and the potential for a peace agreement in Ukraine ahead of weekend negotiations between U.S. president Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The main reason for the price increase is...

The Kremlin announced on Sunday that?Russian President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. The Kremlin said on?Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and?U.S. Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin's foreign policy aide, said that a phone call between Putin - and Trump lasted an hour and fifteen minutes - at Trump's request ahead of Trump meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Miami. Ushakov stated that "the main thing is that the presidents from Russia and the United States share the same view that the temporary ceasefire option proposed by the Ukrainians or the Europeans, under the pretext of preparation for a referendum (or...

Three sources familiar with this matter late Wednesday said that China issued 19 million tonnes of export quotas, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, in the first batch for 2026. In this batch of export quotas, the world's second largest consumer of oil gave out?8 millions tons of low sulphur marine fuel. Both volumes were stable compared to a year ago. China's refined fuel exports are managed by a quota-based system that balances the fundamentals of supply and demand in its domestic market. The main recipients of the quotas were the state-owned oil companies Sinopec and CNPC. They received 13.76...

Asian shares rose on Wednesday, capping off a year of rapid artificial intelligence-driven gains. Commodities such as gold and silver also extended their bullish trend to new highs, as 2025 approaches. Overnight, on Wall Street the S&P 500 closed at a record high as the long-elusive Santa Claus rally finally took hold. The U.S. economic data that showed the economy expanding at a faster rate than expected in the third quarter helped boost risk sentiment, but also weighed on bonds. Early Asian trading was dominated by gold and silver. Gold spot prices rose 0.8%, to $4,524 an ounce. This brings...

The oil prices remained stable on Tuesday, after rising by more than 2% the previous session. The U.S. announced that it may sell the Venezuelan crude they seized. Meanwhile, Ukraine's attacks against Russian vessels and piers increased fears of supply disruption. Brent crude futures fell by 6 cents or 0.1% to $62.01 a barrel at 0440 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), which is a blend of West Texas and Texas Intermediate crudes, fell 9 cents or 0.16% to $57.92. Brent's daily performance was the best in two months, and WTI rose to its highest level since November 14....

Wall Street opened higher, while the yen fell to near-all-time lows versus the euro. Higher interest rates put pressure on Japanese government bonds. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4%. Nasdaq futures gained 0.1%. MSCI's broadest world share index added 0.2%. Due to the fact that the?U.S. The?U.S. Investors are primarily focused on closing the year before January's inflation and labour market releases," he said. Even though it was a holiday-shortened weekend for most of the world, momentum funds continued to flow to equities and precious metals ahead of delayed data which is expected to show that the U.S. economic growth has...

Asian shares rose broadly on Monday, tracking Wall Street's tech-driven gains. Meanwhile, the yen fell to new lows against the Euro and Swiss Franc due to higher interest rates. Even though it was a holiday-shortened weekend for most of the world, momentum funds continued to flow to commodities, precious metals, and equities ahead of delayed data which is expected to show that the U.S. economic growth has been strong in the third quarter. Median estimates predict an annualised increase of 3.2%. This is due to a sharp drop in imports following a surge earlier in the year before the introduction...

Oil prices increased on Monday, after the U.S. announced that it had intercepted a tanker of oil in international waters near the Venezuelan coast. This has caused new supply uncertainty. Brent crude futures rose by 46 cents or 0.8% to $60.93 a barrel at 0400 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 46 cents or 0.8% to $56.98. The market is now recognizing that the Trump Administration is taking a tough stance on the Venezuelan oil industry, said June Goh. She is the senior oil analyst at Sparta Commodities. Goh said that the geopolitical news, along with the simmering...

The oil prices rose in the early hours of Monday morning after the U.S. intercepted an?oil-tanker from Venezuela over the weekend. Brent crude futures rose by 44 cents (or 0.73%) to $60.91 per barrel at 0141 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), crude oil, rose by 40 cents or 0.71% to $56.92. Officials told Sunday that the U.S. Coast Guard was also pursuing a tanker near Venezuela in international waters. If successful, this would be the second operation of the weekend, and the third within less than two weeks, if it is successful. Tony Sycamore, IG analyst, said that the rebound...

Vladimir Putin stated on Friday that Russia’s terms to end the war in Ukraine are unchanged from what he outlined in June 2024. This is a sign of no compromise, as the United States continues to push for a resolution. Putin outlined the Kremlin stance at the start of his annual press conference that lasts for four hours. He said he didn't see any readiness from the Ukrainian side for a peace agreement, but that there were "certain signs" of a willingness to engage in dialogue. Putin stated: "The only thing that I would like to say is we have...

Investors digested central bank decisions that highlighted divergent monetary policies around the world. Global shares rose Thursday, after?benign U.S. data on inflation. U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected during the year ending November. This initially hurt the dollar, but lifted equities on the hope of U.S. interest rate cuts in 2019. The pound rose after the Bank of England reduced interest rates, but indicated that further easing was unlikely. As expected, the European Central Bank left euro zone rates unchanged and took a more optimistic tone about the economy. Bank of Japan expected to raise rates on Friday. However,...

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that they hoped the U.S. President Donald Trump administration didn't make a fatal mistake over Venezuela. They also said that Moscow was concerned about U.S. actions that threaten international navigation. Trump ordered on Tuesday a "blockade", of all oil tankers sanctioned by Washington, that enter and leave Venezuela. Washington was trying to increase pressure against Nicolas Maduro’s government. After the U.S. seize a sanctioned oil tanker off the coasts of Venezuela, last week. Loaded vessels with?millions barrels of crude oil chose to stay in Venezuelan waters than risk being seized. In a press release,...

Australian shares rose on Monday as mining and gold stocks extended gains to reach record highs. This was due to a rise in commodity prices that overshadowed the losses of?energy companies. S&P/ASX 200 index increased 0.2% to 8,777.90 by 2319 GMT. The benchmark index fell by 0.4% before the markets closed on Boxing Day and Christmas Day. The mining stocks rose by 1.1%, reaching a new record high. Copper prices reached a new high on Friday and iron ore prices also increased. Rio Tinto, the world's largest iron ore company, rose 0.7% following a?briefly reaching another record high. The Anglo...

China's iron ore state buyer uses increasingly aggressive tactics against mining giants like BHP in order to tighten their grip on the $132 Billion seaborne market, and to extract better terms from steel?mills. This is happening just as an enormous new supply source is about to strengthen China's hand. China Mineral Resources Group, (CMRG), in November asked their steel mills and traders to refrain from buying spot cargoes for a second BHP-product. This was months after the group blacklisted a product that had raised concerns with Australia's top supplier. Analysts and traders said that the standoff over a supply deal...

This week, gold discounts in India reached their highest level in over six months as a relentless price rise curbed retail purchases. Meanwhile,?discounts? in China shrank sharply after reaching five-year highs last week. A jeweller in Kolkata, eastern India said: "People are in festive moods and are travelling so they're not interested in buying at these record high prices." On Friday, domestic gold prices reached a new record of 139.286 rupees (1,550.34 dollars) per 10 grams, after a rise in spot gold rates internationally. Spot gold reached a new high of $4.530.60 an ounce due to speculative buying and momentum-driven...

Iron ore futures rose on Friday after China announced it would continue its export licensing plan, but they 'ended the week lower due to a rise in inventories and a decrease in demand. The most-traded contract for May iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange(DCE) rose 0.71% to 783 yuan ($111.74) per metric ton. The contract was 0.06% less than the previous week. As of 0711 GMT, the benchmark January iron ore price on the Singapore Exchange dropped 0.62% to $1004.7 per ton. China announced on Friday that from 2026 until 2030, it will continue to regulate the production of?crude...

China's top economist said that from 2026 until 2030, it will tighten up its oversight of copper and alumina project to prevent irrational investments and disorderly growth. In an article?on a website?, the National Development and Reform Commission said that local governments should strengthen feasibility studies and align their approvals to national industrial policy. The commission's guidance focuses on copper and alumina industries, which it said were key to both economic and military development, but whose growth must also take into consideration "differences between regional industrial bases, resources endowments, and environmental capacity." The NDRC stated that China would also encourage...

Shanghai copper reached a record-high on Friday. This was supported by signs that the copper concentrate supply would continue to be?tight next year. A weaker dollar also boosted sentiment. The most active copper contract at the 'Shanghai Futures Exchange' was up 3.5% to 98.550 yuan (US$14,064.31) per metric ton by 0327 GMT, after reaching an all-time peak of 98.590 yuan earlier in the day. On Wednesday, the London benchmark reached a high of $12,282, which is close to the $12,300 level. Sources said that the top copper smelters of China did not set guidance for copper concentrate processing charges in...

Shanghai copper hovered just below a new record high on Thursday as Chinese demand increased and the U.S. Dollar weakened. The most active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended daytime trading up by 1% at 96,210 Yuan ($13732.51) per metric ton. Shanghai copper reached an all-time record of 96.750 yuan per ton on Tuesday, while?London's benchmark also hit a high at $12.282, close to the $12.300 mark. The London market is closed over the Christmas Holiday. The rise in copper was due to a surge in Chinese demand as the holiday season approached. Yangshan Copper?premium The price of...

Tadashi Imai, Chairman of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, said that China's proposed export-licence requirements would not be effective in curbing export volumes or supporting a recovery in prices. China, the world's biggest steel producer, will implement a licensing system in 2026 for export regulation. This is because robust shipments of metal have fueled a protectionist backlash around the globe. Imai said at a press conference that the permits are aimed at controlling quality. China's steel exports have become a global concern. Japan is among the countries that criticize Chinese firms for receiving government subsidies which?encourage exports at low...

Sources said that the top copper smelters of China did not set a guideline for copper concentrate processing fees for the first quarter 2026. This is the fourth time in a row the group has refused to do so, as feedstock shortages have pushed charges to new lows. Two sources familiar with the discussion confirmed that the decision was taken at a quarterly China Smelters Purchase Team meeting. The CSPT is a group of sixteen leading smelters whose advice is often used as a standard in spot concentrate transactions. When concentrate supplies are tight, treatment and refining fees (TC/RCs), which...

Shanghai copper was below its record high Thursday, as the Chinese demand increased and the U.S. dollar weakened. dollar weakened. As of 0330 GMT, the most active copper contract on?the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 0.40%, to 95,640 Yuan ($13.651.55) per metric ton. Shanghai copper reached an all-time record of 96.750 yuan?a ton, and the London benchmark?also hit a high at $12.282, which is near the $12.300 mark. The London market is closed over the Christmas Holiday. The rise in copper was due to a rise in Chinese demand as we approach the holiday season. Yangshan Copper Premium The price of,...

The prices of Dalian Iron Ore Futures rose for the second consecutive session on Thursday, as further relaxations in Beijing on home purchases boosted sentiment. As of 0251 GMT, the most-traded contract for iron ore on?China's Dalian Commodity Exchange(DCE) increased 0.26% to $776 yuan (US$110.76) per metric ton. Singapore's market will be closed on Christmas Day, Thursday. Beijing's municipal officials further relaxed curbs on home purchase on Wednesday by lowering the threshold of home-buying qualification, in their latest effort to boost demand amid worsening prices for homes in the Chinese capital. This came after Chinese officials?promised earlier this week to...

SolGold, a gold and copper mining company, announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement to be purchased by Jiangxi Copper. The deal valued SolGold at $867 million pounds ($1.17billion). The 28 pence per share deal represents a 43% premium over SolGold, a company focused on Ecuador that closed its stock price the previous day (November 19), the day Jiangxi approached the company to do a deal. SolGold's share price closed at 25.65 pence on Wednesday, a trading session that was shortened due to the holiday. The agreement gives Jiangxi the control of SolGold's Cascabel Project in Ecuador's Imbabura...