Page 5 - Commodities

Oil up on geopolitical tensions, gains curbed by fading Fed rate cut hopes

Brent crude futures were up 7 cents, or 0.08%, to $89.08 a barrel at 1109 ET (1509 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 6 cents, or 0.07%, to $83.63 a barrel

China is front and center of gold's record-breaking rally this year

China and India have typically vied over the title of world's biggest buyer. But that shifted last year as Chinese consumption of jewelry, bars and coins swelled to record levels

Global regulators want to better prepare funds, investors for margin calls

Regulators spent more than a decade after the 2008 credit crunch shoring up lenders' financial strength, yet a series of shocks outside the banking sector have since put a spotlight on other risks

Russia, China trade new copper disguised as scrap to skirt taxes, sanctions

Copper wire rod was shredded in China's remote Xinjiang Uyghur region by an intermediary to make it difficult to distinguish from scrap

Gold touches new peak of Rs 69,200 per 10 grams amid global market rally

Gold prices jumped by Rs 830 to reach a new peak of Rs 69,200 per 10 grams on Wednesday amid a rally in precious metal rates in the global markets, according to HDFC Securities. This is the second time that yellow metal prices have hit an all-time high in this week. In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at Rs 68,370 per 10 grams. Silver prices also surged by Rs 1,700 to Rs 80,700 per kg. It had finished at Rs 79,000 per kg in the previous close. "Spot gold prices (24 carats) in the Delhi markets are trading at Rs 69,200 per 10 grams, up by Rs 830, taking a bullish trend in the overseas markets," Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst of Commodities at HDFC Securities, said. In the international markets, spot gold at COMEX was trading at USD 2,275 per ounce, up by USD 20 from the previous close. "Gold up at yet another all-time high with prices breaching past USD 2,300 per ounce in early trade, while futures on MCX rose close to all-time around Rs 69,500, as demand for safe-h

Govt proposes national iron ore exchange to tackle price anomalies: Report

The proposed exchange would record real-time transactions and physical delivery of iron ore, the document said

India's March gold imports likely to plunge more than 90% as prices surge

Lower imports by India, the world's second biggest consumer of the precious metal, could limit a rally in global prices that hit a record high earlier this month

Wheat inventories hit 7-year low at 9.7 MT after record state sale

Wheat reserves in state stores totalled 9.7 million tons at the start of this month, down from 11.7 million tons in March 2022, the state-run Food Corporation of India said

Parboiled rice exports slow on confusion over duty calculations: Dealers

The 20% duty slowed India's parboiled rice exports, but still traders ship around 500,000 metric tons per month as prices jumped in competing countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Myanmar

Sugar output declines by 1.19% to 25.53 MT so far this marketing year: ISMA

The country's sugar production declined 1.19 per cent to 25.53 million tonne so far in the ongoing 2023-24 marketing year, industry body ISMA said on Monday. Sugar production stood at 25.84 MT till February in the year-ago period. Sugar marketing year runs from October to September. In its second estimate, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has projected sugar output to decline by 10 per cent to 33.05 MT in the current 2023-24 marketing year as against 36.62 MT in the previous year. According to ISMA, sugar production in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu remained lower till February of the ongoing marketing year. However, sugar output in Uttar Pradesh -- the country's second largest producer of the sweetener -- was higher at 7.81 MT as against 7 MT in the period under review. The production in Maharashtra -- the country's largest producer of sugar -- was down at 9.09 MT till February of this marketing year, compared with 9.51 MT in the year-ago period. Simil

5,000 Farmer Producer Organizations onboarded on ONDC Portal, says Govt

The government on Friday said almost 5,000 out of 8,000 registered Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have been onboarded on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) portal for selling the produce online to consumers across the country. Around 8,000 FPOs have been registered against the government's target of 10,000 under a central scheme launched in 2020 with a budgetary provision of Rs 6,865 crore. FPOs facilitate farmers with access to improved technology, credit, better input and more markets to incentivise them to produce better quality commodities. "Almost 5,000 out of 8,000 registered FPOs have been registered on the ONDC portal...," the agriculture ministry said in a statement. The onboarding of FPOs on ONDC to reach out to their buyers in any part of the country is in line with the Central government's objective of providing growers with better market access, it said. The move aims to empower FPOs with direct access to digital marketing, online payment, ...

Crude oil falls 1% as Fed caution, stocks build offset Opec+ expectations

Brent crude futures fell 90 cents, or 1.08%, to $82.75 a barrel by 0902 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures (WTI) were down 92 cents, or 1.17%, at $77.95

'Single manager for commodity, overseas funds to cut costs for MFs'

Markets regulator Sebi's proposal of allowing mutual fund houses to have a single fund manager to oversee commodity and foreign investments is aimed at reducing the cost of managing the fund, a top official of Anand Rathi Wealth said on Tuesday. Sebi, on Friday, came out with a consultation paper proposing measures to support ease of doing business for Mutual Funds (MFs). In the draft paper, the regulator suggested appointing a single fund manager for domestic and overseas/commodity funds, relaxation of nomination requirement for joint holders and streamlining of prudential norms for passive schemes with respect to exposure to a single issuer within the AMC's group companies. This came after the Finance Minister in the FY24 Budget made an announcement to simplify, ease and reduce cost of compliance for participants in the financial sector through a consultative approach. "The appointment of a single fund manager for domestic and overseas/commodity funds is intended to reduce the co

Crude oil steadies as demand jitters counter conflict in West Asia

The March contract for U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, which expires on Tuesday, was up 7 cents at $79.26 in tepid trade while the WTI April contract slipped 13 cents to $78.33

Silver futures decline to Rs 71,543 per kg as traders reduce bets

Silver prices on Monday fell Rs 569 to Rs 71,543 per kilogram as participants reduced their bets. On the Multi Commodity Exchange, silver contracts for March delivery declined Rs 569 or 0.79 per cent to Rs 71,543 per kg in a business turnover of 21,616 lots. Globally, silver was trading 1.28 per cent lower at USD 23.18 per ounce in New York.

Farmers will discuss Centre's 5-year MSP proposal, says Sarwan Pandher

The Centre's proposal of buying pulses, maize and cotton by government agencies at MSP will be discussed by farmers, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Monday but asserted that they will not back out of their demand for a legal guarantee for minimum support price for crops. His remarks came after a meeting between farmer leaders and a panel of three Union ministers on Sunday and amid thousands of protesting farmers camping at the Punjab-Haryana border as part of their 'Delhi Chalo' march. Talking to reporters at the Shambhu border point, Pandher said farmers will hold a discussion on the proposal given by the Centre. Farmers have not backed out of their demand for a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) and never will, he said while replying to a question. Pandher said farmer leaders are going to the Khanauri border point where a farmer died. On Sunday, a 72-year-old farmer, who was part of the protest there, died of cardiac arrest. Earlier, a 63-year-old farmer had

Govt making efforts to attain self-sufficiency in pulses output: Munda

A substantial progress has already been made in the domestic pulses production which has increased from 17 million tonnes in 2014 and now a target of 29.5 mn tonnes has been set for this year, he said

Falling US Fed rate cut bets keep gold below $2,000 level, palladium up 7%

Spot gold was down 0.2% to $1,988.08 per ounce as of 9:53 a.m. EST (1453 GMT) - its lowest price since Dec. 13. Bullion fell about 1.4% on Tuesday

Hindustan Copper Q3 results: Profit falls 21% to Rs 63 cr on lower revenue

State-owned Hindustan Copper on Tuesday reported 21.44 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 63 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 due to lower revenue from operations. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 80.20 crore for the year-ago period, Hindustan Copper said in a filing to BSE. Revenue from operations in the quarter dropped to Rs 399.29 crore from Rs 557.04 crore in the year-ago period. Hindustan Copper is under the administrative control of Ministry of Mines.

Crude oil prices drift up with focus on tensions in West Asian region

Brent futures rose 30 cents to $82.30 a barrel as of 0924 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 31 cents to $77.23 a barrel