Global Commodity Market Wrap-Up

Last week, almost all the commodities prices showed some upside recovery from lower levels thanks to a cool-off in dollar index prices. Meanwhile, Precious metals are trading in a range recently. However, spur buying came at lower levels in the yellow metal which settled at a 1.87% weekly gain while silver prices also settled at a weekly gain of 3.22%. Base metals have also got some upside traction from key supporting levels. Zinc and Lead prices have witnessed a weekly surge of 6.52% and 6.37% respectively while Copper prices also moved towards an upward trend line resistance and settled with a weekly gain of 2.98%. Though, copper prices are likely to be depressed due to rising stocks in LME warehouses which rose to almost double from the March 2022 low levels.

On the Energy front, Crude oil prices have rallied from lower levels and settled at a weekly gain of 1.52%. Natural gas prices have also recently shown an upside move and settled at a weekly gain of 5.32%. Also, Agricultural commodity prices have traded in a positive territory with Soybean and Sugar prices witnessed 3.57% and 4.07% weekly gains respectively.

In the recent week, the commodities prices are showing a mixed trend. Precious metal prices are still showing some upside traction while Base metals are now taking resistance from crucial levels and trading in a weak tone. On the energy front, Crude oil and Natural gas prices are trading in a positive zone. The agricultural commodity basket is taking correction from higher levels in the current week.

The upcoming macro events that may impact the market sentiments include an update on FOMC Meeting Minutes, US GDP 1^st Quarter (Second Estimates), Unemployment Claims data, and Core PCE Price Index data released monthly.

Having understood the global commodities performance over the past one week, taking cues from major global economic events, and based on our technical analysis, noted below are our recommendations with the generic insights, entry price, target prices, and stop-loss for Copper July Futures (LME: CMCUN22) for the next 1-2 weeks:      

LME Copper July Futures Contract (LME: CMCUN22)

Price Action and Technical Indicator Analysis:

On the weekly chart, LME Copper prices recently broke an upward sloping trend line by downside and the prices are sustaining below the breakout level from past four weeks that indicates prices are likely to move down further in the coming sessions. Prices are also trading below its 21-period and 50-period SMA that further support our bearish stance. RSI (14-period) is trading at ~43.07 level, which indicates weak price momentum. Now the next crucial support levels appear to be at USD 8955.00 and USD 8524.16 and the prices may test these levels in the coming sessions (1-2 weeks).              

LME Copper Warehouse Inventory (MCU-STOCKS) Vs LME Copper July Contract Price (CMCUN22)

Copper inventories in Warehouse have surged significantly from March 2022 onwards after the inventories fell to 69600 tons in the first week of March 2022. Notably, Copper inventories data stood at 168,150 tons on 24th May 2022. Now, the copper inventories are moving up as per the above chart in LME warehouses that might depress the copper prices in the coming weeks.

As per the above-mentioned price action and technical indicators analysis, we can conclude that LME Copper July Futures (LME: CMCUN22) is looking technically well-placed for a ‘Sell’ rating. Investment decisions should be made depending on an investors’ appetite for upside potential, risks, and any previous holdings. This recommendation is purely based on technical analysis, and fundamental analysis has not been considered. The technical summary of our ‘Sell’ recommendations is as follows:

Upcoming Major Global Economic Events

Market events occur on a day-to-day basis depending on the frequency of the data and generally include an update on employment, inflation, GDP, WASDE report, consumer sentiments, etc. Noted below are the upcoming week's major global economic events that could impact the commodities prices:

Futures Contract Specifications 

Disclaimers 

Investment Related Risks: Based on the technical analysis, the risks are defined as per risk-reward ratio (~0.80:1.00), however, returns are generated within 1-2 weeks’ time frame. This may be looked at by Investors with sufficient risk appetite looking for returns within short investment duration. Investment recommendations provided in this report are solely based on technical parameters, and fundamental performance of the commodities has not been considered in the decision-making process. Other factors which could impact the commodity prices include market risks, regulatory risks, interest rates risk, currency risks, and social and political instability risks etc.

Entry Price: For the given recommendation(s), the Entry Price is assumed to be at or above/ at or below a certain level. However, a slight deviation in the 'Entry Price' can be considered depending upon the upside/downside potential expected and taking into consideration the Target levels indicated. For example: - An Investor can consider entering the commodity at or above/ at or below a certain range (1%-1.5%) from the Entry Levels recommended depending upon the potential upside/downside expected. Therefore, there can be a slight deviation between the ‘Entry Price’ and the ‘Current Market Price (CMP)’. The ‘Entry Price’ indicated above may or may not be same as the ‘CMP’ shown in the price chart.

Note 1: Investors can consider exiting from the commodity if the Target Price mentioned as per the Technical Analysis has been achieved and subject to the factors discussed above.

Note 2: How to Read the Charts?

The Green colour line reflects the 21-period moving average while the red line indicates the 50- period moving average. SMA helps to identify existing price trend. If the prices are trading above the 21-period and 50-period moving average, then it shows prices are currently trading in a bullish trend.

The Black colour line in the chart’s lower segment reflects the Relative Strength Index (14-Period) which indicates price momentum and signals momentum in trend. A reading of 70 or above suggests overbought status while a reading of 30 or below suggests an oversold status.

The Blue colour bars in the chart’s lower segment show the volume of the commodity. Commodity with high volumes is more liquid compared to the lesser ones. Liquidity in commodity helps in easier and faster execution of the order. 

The Orange colour lines are the trend lines drawn by connecting two or more price points and used for trend identification purposes. The trend line also acts as a line of support and resistance.

Technical Indicators Defined: -

Support: A level where-in the commodity prices tend to find support if they are falling, and downtrend may take a pause backed by demand or buying interest.

Resistance: A level where-in the commodity prices tend to find resistance when they are rising, and uptrend may take a pause due to profit booking or selling interest.

Stop-loss: It is a level to protect further losses in case of unfavourable movement in the commodity prices.

Risk Reward Ratio: The risk reward ratio is the difference between an entry point to a stop loss and profit level. We suggest ~80% Stop Loss of the Target 1 from the entry point.

The reference date for all price data, volumes, technical indicators, support, and resistance levels is May 25, 2022 (Chicago, IL, USA 03.42 AM (GMT -5). The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from REFINITIV. 

Note: Trading decisions require a thorough analysis by investors. Technical reports in general chart out metrics that may be assessed by investors before any commodity evaluation. The above are illustrative analytical factors used for evaluating the commodity; other parameters can be looked at along with additional risks per se.