Gold up, natural gas companies, crude oil reserves

Commodities posted strong gains on Friday, driven by a surprisingly strong rise in gold futures, which seemingly came out of nowhere. Natural gas rose sharply in percentage terms, but that was not a surprise, as it was extremely cold in several key demand regions in the United States. Crude oil also finished positive, aided by political and economic turmoil in Venezuela.

Gold

Gold futures skyrocketed on Friday in response to a sharp decline in the US dollar. The greenback fell in reaction to a report that the US Federal Reserve was planning some gradual changes in monetary policy while keeping interest rates unchanged.

Friday, in April, the gold of Comex was $ 1304.20, up $ 18.30 or 1.42%.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Federal Reserve officials are about to decide when to end the reduction in treasury bonds that they keep in their balance sheets, a key factor for investors who monitor up to the end of the year. where the tightening of the central bank's monetary policy will go. The easing policy is bearish for the US dollar and bullish for gold denominated in dollars.

This is not a datum, but speculations for the moment. However, the WSJ went on to explain that it would probably be more useful to decide when to end the collapse at the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on January 30th.

"The bulk of the work has been done," Esther George, president of the Kansas City Fed, told The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 15, during an interview. "We are waiting for the committee to be convinced that it has sufficiently understood all the elements in motion."

Natural gas

Natural gas futures prices closed higher on Friday, as another explosion in the Arctic was expected this weekend and end of January. Speculators may have also taken into account a new forecast calling for a new wave of freezing temperatures until February. The poor performance of the cash market helped to limit earnings.

Potentially optimistic comments from customized weather services were positive throughout the session. "However, during the week, it became clear that the cold snap to close January and bring back in February was the real deal, and that the chances of cold could easily return in mid-February," Bespoke Weather said. Services.

On Friday, natural gas in March was $ 3,072, up $ 0.074 or 2.47%.

Crude oil

Brent crude oil futures in the US West and Mid-Texas region closed higher on Friday amid concerns over a supply disruption due to Venezuela's political and economic turmoil. . However, gains were limited by concerns over rising fuel inventories in the United States and the global economic slowdown.

On Friday, March WTI crude oil stood at $ 53.69, up $ 0.56 or + 1.05% and Brent crude oil in March at $ 61.64, up 0 , $ 55 or + 0.89%.

Specifically, short sellers were encouraged to hedge positions after the United States reported that they could impose sanctions on Venezuelan exports. However, buyers were frightened by the uncertainty surrounding the US-China trade relationship and the recognition of the economic weakness of major central banks.