Market and product

Precious Metals
Gold futures gained this week after Fitch Ratings cut Greece’s credit rating boosting the appeal of the precious metal as a haven asset.

Gold imports by China may increase after investment demand more than doubled in the first quarter, with the country overtaking India to become the largest market for gold coins and bars, the World Gold Council said.

On Friday, gold futures for June delivery rose $16.50, or 1.1 percent, to settle at $1,508.90 on the Comex in New York. The price, up 1 percent this week, has climbed 6.2 percent this year.

Among other metals, Silver futures for July delivery rose 15.5 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $35.087 an ounce. The price, up 0.2 percent this week, has climbed 13 percent this year.

Palladium futures for June delivery rose $7.35, or 1 percent, to $735.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price, climbed 4.1 percent this week. Platinum futures for July delivery rose 40 cents to $1,769.40 an ounce.

In Indian market, MCX June Gold Futures opened the week at Rs.21952 and up by 0.97 % to 22167 after hitting a high of 22214 while August contract gained by 0.67 % to 22379 per 10 Grms. MCX Silver July opened this week at Rs.53807 and ended lower by 0.56% at Rs 53501 on profit booking at higher price levels.

Crude Oil
Oil rose for the second time this week after the American Petroleum Institute reported that fuel consumption increased in April as economic growth bolstered demand for diesel by truckers.

On Friday US Crude futures up after news that al Qaeda had plotted last year to hijack or sink oil tankers to prompt.

Crude oil may rise next week amid higher fuel demand in the U.S., a Bloomberg News survey showed.

On Friday, crude oil for June delivery gained $1.05 to settle at $99.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell 16 cents this week. The June contract expired at the close of Nymex floor trading. July crude gained $1.17, or 1.2 percent, to $100.10 a barrel.

Brent crude for July settlement rose 97 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $112.39 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Total U.S. crude oil and petroleum product consumption jumped 5.2 percent in April from a year earlier to 19.886 million barrels per day, the American Petroleum Institute said in a monthly report.

At MCX, Crude oil June contract up from Rs.4496 to Rs.4509, slight up by 0.28% after hitting a high of 4588 whereas the July contract increased by 0.13 per cent to Rs.4554.

Base Metals
Copper futures rose at the weekend as traders viewed recent declines and falling global stockpiles as an excuse to buy.

On Friday, the most actively traded contract, for July delivery, recently traded 1.05 cent, or 0.3%, higher, at $4.0630 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Thinly traded May copper recently traded 1.1% higher, at $4.0925 a pound.

Readings on the U.S. housing and manufacturing sectors came in worse than expected this week, hitting sentiment in the copper market. The industrial metal is sensitive to changes in the economic outlook because of its widespread use in construction and manufacturing.

Copper futures have also taken cues from moves in currency markets recently, but were given less direction this week as the dollar moved indecisively. Like other dollar-denominated commodities, copper can fall when the greenback rises and makes the futures more expensive for market participants using other currencies.

Early indications of first-quarter mined copper output point to a softening trend of mine supply growth this year that should keep global production deficits firmly in place through 2011.

Copper inventories fell 15 percent from a week earlier, dropping 15,357 metric tons to 90,108 tons, according to a survey of 10 warehouses in Shanghai. That’s the lowest level since September, according to Bloomberg data. Holdings in two bonded warehouses lost 3,385 tons to 30,609 tons, the bourse said on its website.

In India at MCX, copper June contract rose marginally from Rs.400.90 to Rs.412.05 per Kg higher by 2.78 %, after hitting a high of 414.50 per Kg whereas the August contract ended up by 2.04 % to Rs.417.45 per Kg.

Natural Gas
Natural gas futures advanced this weekend as data showed the number of U.S. gas drilling rigs fell for a second consecutive week.

Gas gained 3.3 percent after Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. said the rig total declined 8 to 866 this week. Prices also rose after gas settled near a six-week low on Friday, spurring buying from traders betting that the market had hit a bottom for now.

Natural gas for June delivery rose 13.6 cents to settle at $4.23 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures fell 0.4 percent this week.

Natural gas shipments to U.S. power plants were set to increase for a fifth day as hotter-than-normal weather in the South boosts demand for gas-fired electricity.

Gas stockpiles gained 92 billion cubic feet in the week ended May 13 to 1.919 trillion cubic feet, the Energy Department said. The five-year average change for the week is an increase of 91 billion cubic feet, department data show. Inventories rose 78 billion cubic feet a year earlier.

Temperatures may be normal or above-normal across most of the continental U.S. from May 25 through May 29, according to WSI Corp. in Andover, Massachusetts. Warmer-than-normal weather is likely along the Eastern Seaboard.