Commodity Capsule: Gold, copper rise; Brent crude oil surges

Commodity Capsule: Oil prices surged on Wednesday as tension escalated in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures surged past the $92/barrel mark. 

West Texas Intermediate crude futures shot up to $88.50 a barrel.

Both benchmarks gained over $2 to touch their highest levels in two weeks.

Hundreds were killed in a blast at a Gaza hospital, sparking concerns about potential oil supply disruptions from the region.

Jordan cancelled a summit it was to host with U.S. President Joe Biden and Egyptian and Palestinian leaders.

Gold prices rose sharply on Wednesday, nearing a one-month high driven by safe haven demand.

Spot gold in the international market jumped to the $1940 an ounce mark, up $30 since the beginning of the week.

The bombing of a Gaza hospital, which reportedly killed hundreds of Palestinians, marked a potential escalation in the conflict.

The move pushed up concerns that the Israel-Hamas conflict could draw in other Arab countries, causing war to spill over into the Middle East region.

Rising concerns over an escalation in the Israel-Hamas war provided a major boost to gold prices over the past week. Gold ended the prior week with over a 5 per cent gain.

Copper prices rose sharply on Wednesday after China clocked better-than-expected growth in the third quarter.

LME Copper bounced past $8,000, from near five-month lows in the prior session.

China’s third-quarter gross domestic product grew a bigger-than-expected 4.9 per cent, indicating that recent stimulus measures from Beijing were bearing fruit.

GDP data, coupled with a positive reading on industrial production in September, pushed up hopes that economic conditions in China will improve, buoying demand.

Focus is now on a loan prime rate decision from the People’s Bank of China on Friday, although the bank is widely expected to maintain rates.

Global Agri Commodities witness smart recovery

ICE Raw Sugar surges to 12-Year High on weak output estimates in India, Thailand.

Arabica coffee futures hovered at one month and Robusta coffee traded over two-week highs.

Cbot Soybean rises past $13 a Bushel to a three-week high.

Malaysian Palm Oil rises to three weeks and CBoT soy oil recovers to 2 week high.

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