Industrial metal prices came under renewed pressure on Friday. Copper fell as much as 2.2 percent to a one-and-a-half-year low of $8,220 a ton. Nickel and tin fell 10.1 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively. The drastic interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and the strict corona restrictions in China clouded the prospects for demand, wrote the analysts at the research house Fitch Solutions. The positive side of this development is that it dampens fears of inflation and rate hikes, said Brian Daingerfield, investment strategist at Bank NatWest. Speculations of tight supply drove oil prices higher. A barrel of the North Sea Brent variety costs 113.20 dollars, 2.9 percent more. Recession worries continued to dominate the commodity markets, said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM. “Nonetheless, the consensus remains that the oil market will see high demand and tight supply over the summer months.” The oil flow from Libya, which had almost completely dried up due to political unrest, fueled speculation about supply bottlenecks.
Due to the possible failure of gas-powered electricity plants, the German price for electricity for delivery in 2023 rose by 0.4 percent at times to a record high of EUR 262.10 per megawatt hour. European natural gas became cheaper by 2.2 percent to 132 euros per megawatt hour. Stockbrokers spoke of profit-taking and increasing deliveries from Norway.
The euro gained 0.2 percent to $1.0539, although Germany’s most important leading economic indicator, the Ifo business climate index, fell 0.7 points month-on-month to 92.3 points. Analysts had expected only a slight downturn to 92.8 points.