Commodities Update — Gold flat; Wheat extends gain; Copper buoyed by easing China curbs

RIYADH: Gold prices were flat on Thursday, as an elevated US dollar and rising Treasury yields weighed on greenback-priced bullion, with the metal’s outlook already dampened by an aggressive Federal Reserve stance on inflation.

Spot gold held its ground at $1,813.96 per ounce, as of 0512 GMT. US gold futures were flat at $1,813.40. 

Platinum drops

Spot silver was flat at $21.40 per ounce, while platinum dropped 0.8 percent to $927.78.

Palladium rose 0.5 percent to $2,027.38. 

Grains up

US wheat extended gains on Thursday, after India unexpectedly banned wheat exports last week, while the Russia-Ukraine war kept underpinning global grains markets.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.89 percent at $12.41-3/4 a bushel.

CBOT wheat had climbed more than 8 percent over the past two days, following India’s wheat ban and reports showing bad condition of US winter crop.

CBOT soybeans edged up 0.95 percent to $16.78-1/2 bushel, extending gains, while corn rose 0.48 percent to $7.85-1/4 a bushel.

Copper inches higher

London copper prices inched higher on Thursday, buoyed by easing COVID-19 restrictions in top metals consumer China, although mounting worries over a global economic slowdown limited gains.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.2 percent at $9,254 a ton, as of 0702 GMT, after dropping 1.4 percent in the previous session. 

The most-active June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended daytime trading down 0.3 percent at $10,576.04 a ton.

LME aluminum was down 0.1 percent at $2,853.50 a ton.

(With input from Reuters)