Commodity Capsule: Brent crude oil rises; gold edges higher; base metals range-bound

Commodity Capsule: Oil prices rose on Friday after the US tightened its sanctions programme against Russian crude exports, raising supply concerns in an already tight market, and global inventories are forecast to decline through the fourth quarter.

Brent is set for a weekly gain of 2.3 per cent, while WTI is set to climb 0.9 per cent for the week.

Potential for disruptions to Middle Eastern exports after Hamas' attack on Israel over the weekend threatened a possible wider conflict, leading to a sharp surge in Monday's session.

The US imposed the first sanctions on owners of tankers carrying Russian oil priced above the G7's price cap of $60/barrel, to close loopholes in the mechanism designed to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its forecast for growth in global oil demand, citing signs of a resilient world economy so far this year and expected further demand gains in China.

IEA lowered its forecast for growth in oil demand in 2024 to 880,000 barrels per day from 1 million bpd, suggesting harsher global economic conditions and progress on energy efficiency.

US crude stockpiles jumped more than 10 million barrels last week, their most in eight months.

Exports tumbled and refineries slowed the processing of oil amid maintenance, while output in the United States hit a new record high of 13.2 million barrels/ day.

Gold prices edged up on Friday but traded below two-week highs in the last session.

Bigger-than-expected jump in US consumer prices boosted bets interest rates would stay high for longer, lifting dollar and bond yields from their recent lows.

Gold is still on track for a more than 2 per cent rise this week, the most since mid-March, as military clashes between Israel and Hamas boosted demand for safe-haven bullion.

Base Metals are largely clueless and rangebound, as LME copper hovers near the $8,000 mark.

Rebound in US Dollar and benchmark dollar yields weigh on industrial metals.

Copper inventories on the London Metal Exchange reached the highest level in nearly two years.

Stockpiles rose for a sixth day to reach 181,150 metric tons, extending a threefold increase since July.

Purchases shrank for unwrought copper in China fell 5.79 per cent, and imports of copper ore & concentrate dipped 1.41 per cent.

Chicago soybean is set for their first weekly gain since August after the government lowered its U.S. production forecast further than analysts had expected.

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