Market pulse for various metals and energy: Mangal Keshav

Gold prices rallied to their highest level since late February, as investors returned to the precious metal's safe haven properties as a radical bailout package for Cyprus shook sentiment in the euro zone.

Gold holdings of SPDR gold trust, the largest ETF backed by the precious metal, declined to 1,219.45 tons, as on March 18.

Silver holdings of ishares silver trust, the largest ETF backed by the metal, increased to 10,733.66 tons, as on March 18.

The euro tumbled to a more than 3-month low against the US dollar, after a Cypriot plan to tax bank deposits as part of an EU bailout deal sparked fears that euro zone's larger troubled economies such as Spain and Italy may follow suit.

Euro zone finance ministers demanded at the weekend that Cypriots pay up to 9.9% of their deposits in exchange for a 10bn Euro ($13bn) bailout.

Euro zone ministers urged Cyprus to let smaller savers escape a levy on bank deposits, before a parliamentary vote on Tuesday that will either secure the island's financial rescue or threaten default.

Copper prices declined to a 4-month low while other metals too were down, mirroring a pullback in risk appetite across financial markets, as the euro zone's plan to part-fund a bailout of Cyprus by taxing bank deposits raised fears about the
region's economic stability.

The global zinc market was in surplus by 40,000 tons in January while lead market was in surplus by 3,000 tons in the same month, as per Lisbonbased International Lead and Zinc Study Group.

Crude oil futures recovered from early losses to close higher, as the initial shock of the proposed bailout plan for Cyprus, which includes a levy on bank deposits, started to wear off.

Oil prices at $100 per barrel is a “reasonable” price that won’t choke global economic growth, Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said - Bloomberg.

Brent crude oil recovered near to $109 per barrel, after touching a three-month low, as a plan to tax bank accounts in debt-laden Cyprus sparked fears of further turmoil in the euro zone.

Natural gas futures trades positively on Monday, with prices trading at the highest level since Oct'11, as forecasts of colder weather for next 2-weeks continued to boost near-term demand expectations for the heating fuel.