New glimmers of hope for diplomatic rapprochement in the war in Ukraine eased some tension on the commodity markets at the end of the week. Brent crude oil from the North Sea fell temporarily by two percent on Friday to around 107 dollars. Before Putin announced certain positive changes in talks with Ukraine, the Brent price was about four percent higher. On the palladium market, Putin’s comments dampened speculation that Russian supplies would be disrupted. The price of the precious metal needed to build autocatalysts turned negative, falling by more than four percent to $2,803 a troy ounce. However, it still cost around ten percent more than before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the world’s largest exporter of palladium.
On the foreign exchange market, the dollar, which was in demand as a safe haven, resumed its recovery course. In times of crisis, the greenback remains the first choice for many investors, it said. The experts at ING saw further potential for the dollar should the US central bank tighten its monetary policy further. Support for this assumption came from the economic side: In the US, consumer confidence was weaker than expected in March. However, the decline in sentiment to its lowest level since 2011 was largely due to inflation fears. This data underscores the need for the Fed to finally start tackling inflation with rate hikes starting next Wednesday’s meeting. The dollar rose sharply following the release of the data, while the euro, in turn, came under severe pressure. The shared currency fell to $1.903 late Friday night after rallying as low as $1.1042 during the day.