Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Gold touched a fresh record as Israel prepared for a strike by Iran or its proxies, and traders mulled the latest US economic data.
Bullion climbed as much as 1% to $2,395.48 in early Asia hours. Israel is preparing for an assault in the next two days, in retaliation for its strike on Iran’s diplomatic compound in Syria last week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Gold’s stellar rally faltered on Wednesday after a hotter-than expected consumer price inflation reading, but has since resumed a fourth weekly advance — the longest streak since January last year. The gains have been driven by heightened geopolitical risks in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as buying by central banks, led by China.
A report on Thursday showed US producer prices increased in March from a year earlier by the most in 11 months. Still, the print showed softening in certain categories that feed into the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, easing some anxiety over a re-acceleration in price pressures following several robust economic reports in recent weeks.
Spot gold rose 0.8% to $2,391.35 an ounce at 10:25 a.m. in Singapore, taking this week’s advance to 2.6%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed. Silver reached a fresh three-year high, while platinum and palladium also advanced.
(By Sybilla Gross)
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