Gold, silver, oil, natural gas and agricultural markets.
Spot gold slipped under $4,110 in a stop-hunting move on Wednesday, then clawed back above the level as crude jumped on reports of pre-midterm US strike planning against Iran — while hawkish Fed minutes kept another 2026 rate hike firmly on the table.
Wednesday's session knocked spot gold down 1.6% to $4,096.13 — the softest print since August 5 — as a firmer dollar and 20-year-high Treasury yields punished the zero-yield metal.
Front-month natural gas closed Wednesday up 1% at $3.066 per mmBtu as traders bet Thursday's EIA report brings a ninth straight below-average storage build, extending a surplus squeeze that has halved the inventory cushion in a month.
Crude is holding near $100 a barrel as IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva warns that an energy shock, the AI investment boom and record public debt are combining into a dangerous cocktail for the world economy.
Delegates at the LBMA's annual gathering in Sorrento forecast gold at $5,013 an ounce within 12 months, about 20% above the current $4,170. Silver got a $97 call. The call still sits 10% below January's record.
Brent crude is anchored around $100 a barrel as attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz collide with a G7 plan to tap 100 million barrels of emergency oil and diesel. The market's verdict so far: a little lower, not broken.
OPEC+ kept November oil output targets unchanged at its October 4 meeting, the second straight month of standing pat, as war disruption leaves Gulf output about 5 million barrels a day below prewar levels and Brent above $100.
Mohsen Paknejad quit as Iran's oil minister on Sunday; NIOC chief Hamid Bovard takes over in an acting role, hours after OPEC+ froze November output for a second straight month.
Brent crude bounced back above $100 as China halted fuel exports and a third US aircraft carrier headed for the Gulf, keeping supply risk in the driving seat.
Aliko Dangote has broken ground on a $15 billion, 700,000-barrels-a-day refinery at Lamu on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast — a project that could redraw East Africa's fuel trade and add fresh bids for Atlantic Basin crude.
London's gold trade referee is about to stand trial. The LBMA defends a landmark case from October 7 that could shake the 276-year-old Good Delivery system behind the world's largest bullion market.
Natural gas snapped back from a $2.912 low to finish near the session high on Friday, tracing a textbook bullish outside session. Confirmation needs a daily settle above Thursday's $3.021 peak, with the sliding 200-day average near $3.13 looming as the next obstacle.
