Round up the usual suspects and see them run?
A flow of encouraging news on corporate earnings and the US and Chinese economies and off goes oil, gold and copper for differing reasons.
Copper had its best week for four months, oil resumed its upward march and gold rose as the bulls sniffed inflation, even though reports last week all showed consumer and wholesale rates low or negative.
Oil prices rose 2.5% on Friday, which ended the first weekly gain in a month, after US new home starts rose, sparking optimism that the battered sector of the economy may be recovering.
Oil rose 6.1%, partially reversing its 10% plunge last week.
US new homes starts and building permits rose more than expected in June, but they are still deeply depressed on a year ago.
The housing figures added further support to oil after some better-than-expected US corporate earnings and those solid Chinese economic growth figures.
Nymex August US crude oil ended up $US1.54 at $US63.56 a barrel on Friday, while September London Brent crude rose $US1.63 to close at $US65.38 a barrel.
Oil rose Friday, despite a small rise in the value of the US dollar.
Oil prices are down more than $US6 a barrel since early July, cutting last quarter’s 40% jump.
Comex copper futures jumped, having the biggest weekly advance in four months on the news of the upturn in new home starts last month.
June’s 3.6% rise followed a 17% jump in May (mainly multi-home starts, compared to the 14% rose in single family home starts last month) for the first back-to-back gains since February of last year.
The week’s gains saw copper end the week up 72% so far this year.
September copper jumped 3.35%, or 1.4% on Friday to $US2.423 a pound on Comex: that left it up 9.6% over the week, the biggest rise since early March.
On the London Metal Exchange, three month copper ended up $US50 at $US5,310 a metric ton (or $US2.41 a pound).
Comex gold futures in New York ended higher on Friday, helped by the crude oil rally.
August gold futures ended up $US2.10 at $US937.50 an ounce and spot metal traded at $US938.20 an ounce, against $US936.35 in its previous session finish.
Oil’s rise, the housing starts and higher metal prices, boosted gold on Friday.
Silver finished at $US13.37 an ounce on Comex on Friday, up from Thursday’s $US13.27.
The metal almost recovered the losses that took it to a 10-week low last Monday.
