Commodity Capsule: Brent crude extends rises; gold gains, silver hits its highest since June 2021

Commodity Capsule: Oil prices rose on Tuesday after hopes diminished that negotiations between Israel and Hamas would lead to a ceasefire in Gaza and ease tension in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures rose past $90 a barrel. US WTI crude edged past $86 a barrel.

A fresh round of Israel-Hamas ceasefire discussions in Cairo had ended a multi-session rally on Monday, leading Brent to its first decline in five sessions and WTI to its first in seven on the prospect that geopolitical risks could ease.

Hamas said early on Tuesday that Israel's proposal it received from Qatari and Egyptian mediators did not meet any of the demands of Palestinian factions. 

Hamas said it would study the proposal before responding to the mediators.

This week, the market will be watching inflation data from the US and China for further signals on the economic direction.

Gold prices rose on Tuesday, hovering near a record peak hit in the previous session, supported by firm central bank buying, while investors watched out for the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting minutes and inflation data for fresh signals.

US gold futures hold gains past the $2,360 mark. Touched an all-time high level of $2,372 in the previous trading session.

MCX gold touched an all-time high at Rs 71,150.

The minutes of the Fed's March policy meeting and the US CPI data are due on Wednesday.

Silver hit its highest since June 2021 past $28, while domestic futures are hovering near their latest record high of 82, 109 touched on Monday.

India's silver imports surged 260 per cent in February to a record high, as lower duties encouraged large purchases from the United Arab Emirates.

Shanghai copper hit a record high on Tuesday, while prices in London hovered near their highest in 14 months, backed by positive factory data, and hopes of rate cuts and lower output.

Copper on the London Metal Exchange hovers close to $9,400 per metric ton, while the May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed one per cent to 76,050 yuan/ton.

Earlier in the session, SHFE copper hit as much as 76,700 yuan, the highest on record, tracking overnight gains in London where the copper contract climbed to the highest in 14 months in the previous session.

Funds have increased their appetite for metals, buoyed by better-than-expected manufacturing data in major economies including top consumer China as well as hope for rate cuts in the United States and Europe.

Copper is supported by the prospect of output cuts in China, where smelters struggled with a tightness of raw material supply.

Yangshan copper premium was last seen at $42.50 a ton, hovering around the lowest since August last year, indicating weaker demand to import copper into China.

LME cash copper contract on Monday was traded at a $129.99 a ton discount to the three-month contract, the biggest discount since at least 1982.

LME aluminum, and zinc slips on profit booking, although close to their recent 14-month and 12-month high respectively.

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