Commodity Capsule: Gold continues dream run; Brent crude slips

Oil prices slid more than $1 a barrel on Monday, with Brent falling below $90, as Middle East tensions eased after Israel withdrew more soldiers from southern Gaza and committed to fresh talks on a potential ceasefire in the six-month conflict. Brent crude futures dropped to $89 a barrel. US WTI crude was at $85.59 a barrel, down 1.5 per cent.

Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt for fresh talks on a potential ceasefire ahead of the Eid holidays, easing tensions in the Middle East Last week, crude oil prices surged by more than 4per cent last week on concerns of supply disruption. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Israel is ready to handle any scenario that may arise with Iran, after Tehran threatened to retaliate for the killing of Iranian generals on April 1

Goldman Sachs analysts expect Brent to stay below $100 a barrel in its base case scenario US employment report on Friday beat expectations, suggesting the economy ended 1st quarter on solid ground and potentially delaying anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.

Gold prices surged to record highs on Monday, shrugging off easing bets on U.S. rate cuts as safe haven demand for the yellow metal remained buoyant ahead of more cues on the U.S. economy.
US Gold futures expiring in June rose to a record high of $2,372.45 an ounce. Gold prices rose as the dollar showed limited reaction to a blowout nonfarm payrolls report for March.

Report showed the U.S. labor market remained strong. Such a scenario gives the Federal Reserve little impetus to begin trimming interest rates early. But the dollar showed little strength after the reading, offering gold some more headroom to push higher. Uncertainty over US rates remained in play ahead of key consumer price index inflation data, due this Wednesday.

Traders were seen largely scaling back bets that the Fed will cut rates as soon as June UBS Expects Gold To Trade At $ 2,300/Oz In June And At $ 2,500/Oz At End – 2024 Citi Lifts 6-12m Topside Levels Towards Bull-case Scenarios For Gold And Silver To $3,000/oz And $32/oz Respectively

London copper prices fell on Monday as the prospect of fewer-than-expected interest rate cuts by the US weighed on investor sentiment, while Shanghai copper climbed to an all-time high. Copper on the London Metal Exchange slipped to $9,300/metric ton, having gained 5.2 per cent last week. May copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced to a record high of 75,170 yuan/ton, catching up to the gains of London prices after a trading holiday break on Thursday and Friday. Rate cut hopes by US Federal Reserves and soft a dollar boosted London copper to a 14-month high last Thursday. However, strong jobs data on Friday showed the world's largest economy created more jobs than expected last month, suggesting that the Fed may not be in a rush to cut interest rates in the near term. The dollar was firm but sluggish on Monday as investors looked ahead to U.S. inflation data