Commodities
Iron ore and copper rebounded as fears of a messy end to China’s property boom receded. Evergrande made interest payments. Chinese state media signalled Beijing was preparing measures to help debt-strapped developers access lending markets. An unverified report this morning suggested the People’s Bank eased controls on lending to the property sector.
“It’s about maintaining stability,” Xiao Fu, strategist at Bank of China International, told Reuters.
The spot price for iron ore landed at Tianjin jumped US$4.70 or 5.3 per cent to US$94.20 a tonne. Copper for December delivery rose 1.8 per cent to US$4.40 a pound in US trade.
US gold miners rallied as the metal logged a sixth straight gain, its longest win streak since May. Gold for December delivery settled US$15.60 or 0.8 per cent ahead at US$1,863.90 an ounce. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbed 2.53 per cent.
“Should gold prices hold near $1,850/oz this week, new investor inflows are likely to materialize and $1,900/oz could be the next upside target,” Citi strategists told clients.
Oil mounted a tepid rebound from Wednesday’s sharp decline. Brent crude settled 23 US cents or 0.3 per cent higher at US$82.87 a barrel, a day after falling 2.5 per cent.
LNG‘s bounce was more convincing. US gas futures rebounded 5.5 per cent to US$5.149 per million British thermal units.
