Commodities trading outlook: gold, silver futures add on Ukraine, copper pressured

Gold and silver futures steadied above Tuesdays close during midday trade in Europe today, as tensions in Ukraine hurt risk plays, supporting havens. Meanwhile, copper futures continued downwards, weighed on by a strong dollar.

Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex in New York traded at $1 287.3 per troy ounce, up 0.16%, at 12:34 GMT. Prices ranged from $1 280.9 to $1 288.2 per troy ounce. The precious metal added 0.5% on Tuesday.

Silver for September delivery stood for a 0.41% daily gain at $19.465 per troy ounce. Silver added 0.1% yesterday.

Two key readings on the US economy were posted yesterday, as investors seek to reinforce outlooks of an earlier than previous expected rate hike. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index was logged at 92.4, the highest reading in almost seven years.

Earlier, durable goods orders were logged for a mixed read. Overall, orders added 22.6%, the biggest monthly increase on record, as the figure was boosted by a surge in orders for commercial airplanes for Boeing last month. Core orders, which exclude volatile items such as airplanes, were logged down 0.8% on a monthly basis, paring much of the positive vibes from the overall figure.

The data was seen as positive enough to strengthen speculation that the Fed will be raising the benchmark interest rate earlier, boosting the US dollar to a new 13-month high and pressuring the precious metal lower.

Since gold, like most other exchange-traded commodities, is denominated in dollars, a higher value for the greenback increases the cost of the metal to other currencies, reducing its appeal.

“Gold found some support [from safe haven bids on Ukraine] despite the positive U.S. economic data, and strong dollar” Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. analysts wrote in a note today, cited by Bloomberg.

Ukraine

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with his Russian counterpart in Minsk, Belarus, as the push towards a ceasefire met support from both sides, and from the West.

The meeting took place the day after 10 Russian military servicemen were captured in Ukraine. Moscow said the group had entered Ukraine “by accident”, but the soldiers themselves said Russia should stop sending troops in Ukraine. Elsewhere, a column of some 100 armored vehicles was reported sighted in rebel-held territory, which were “obviously Russian”, Ukrainian sources said.

Earlier, Kiev reported its army had won a skirmish with several dozen armored vehicles, which entered Ukraine from Russia, and were said to be manned by the Russian military disguised as Donbas rebels.

Elsewhere, conflicts in Libya, Iraq and Syria were still closely monitored, while Israel and Gaza officials were said to have agreed a long-term peace deal yesterday, somewhat calming fears for the world’s most violent region.

Copper

Copper contracts for September stood at $3.1845 per pound, down 0.05%. The red metal dropped 1% on Monday.

“What youre getting is a pullback in copper because a lot of people jumped back in and got too long too quickly,” Adam Klopfenstein, a strategist with Archer Financial in Chicago, said for The Wall Street Journal.

Copper turns downwards, because a strong dollar is outweighing brighter outlooks for demand of base metals in second-top consumer US.

“Strength in the dollar is certainly weighing on the copper price, which is making it expensive for traders to buy the metal,” Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, said for Reuters. “Having said that, it is important that we emphasize the latest U.S. durable goods data, as it gives us a clear idea about the demand for metal.”

The durable orders figures were unable to affect copper too much, as the big increase overall was pared by the drop for core orders. Meanwhile, the Standard&Poor’s house price index was logged at 8.1% on an annual basis, slightly below expectations, after new home sales were reported to have dropped 2.4% on a a monthly basis yesterday. An average home has about 300-500 pounds of copper in wiring and plumbing.