Fortnightly outlook for commodities: Nirmal Bang

Most international commodities reacted to the unrest in the Middle East nations. The uprising in these nations, led by Libya, Yemen and other neighbouring regions directly or indirectly affected the prices of commodities as prices of crude oil and bullions reached multi-week highs. However, industrial metals prices were worst hit, in the previous fortnight.

Precious metals

Prices of precious metals continued to rise higher, extending the gains seen in the month of February. Silver, in particular, was an outperformer, trading above $ 36.50/ounce on the Comex to reach a 31-year high, and above Rs 55,000/kg on the MCX, reaching an all-time high on the Indian exchanges. Although the yellow metal was relatively subdued, it still managed to cross the $ 1,440/ounce mark on the Comex as clashes in Libya and turbulence across the Arab region encouraged investors to seek a safe haven.

Though lately, we have seen some reversal in the ETF holdings of gold in SPDR Gold Trust, the level of holdings is still not encouraging. The SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings fell to 1,210.621 tonnes by 3rd March, the lowest since 1,210.961 in mid-May last year. On the other hand, holdings in the world