The trend of commodity prices may increase the risk of future inflation.

There is no doubt that investors around the world have experienced an unforgettable "turbulent week" this week, although the S & P 500 narrowly avoided a fourth consecutive week of declines thanks to Friday's sharp rebound, but the average up and down amplitude of each trading day throughout the week reached 3.4%, the highest since the fastest entry in the history of March 2020. At the same time, high volatility scenes abound in the Asia-Pacific and European stock markets.

From the tensions between Russia and Ukraine at the beginning of the week to the hawkish Fed decision in the middle of the week, a series of emergencies undoubtedly kept traders in global markets busy this week.

Compared with the sinking of the stock market, the commodity market has experienced no less ups and downs this week, and some varieties have even recorded crazy prices rarely seen in many years or even in history.

Of course, unlike stock markets in the quagmire, more commodity prices are showing a stronger side this week: it may also cater to a key theme in global markets after 2022-how on earth should people deal with today's rising inflation? The rising prices of commodities, especially energy and agricultural products, are likely to further exacerbate the inflation risks facing the world in the future.

Here are some of the most impressive commodity price movements this week:

Natural gas

Us natural gas futures for March delivery rose another 8.3 per cent on Friday to close at $4.639 per million British thermal units as the weekend bomb cyclone approached the east coast of the US.

Before that, February contracts, which expired on Thursday, rose a historic 72 per cent a day, a typical sign of short selling, as traders who made mistakes by betting on lower prices were eager to close their positions by buying higher-priced contracts. The frenzy also spread to main contracts, with u.s. natural gas futures prices soaring 16% in just five days, the biggest weekly increase since august 2020.

diesel oil

The spread between real-time ultra-low sulphur diesel futures and next month's delivery reached its highest level in nearly seven years this week, with the spot premium widening sharply as the threat of icy winter Blizzard pushed up demand for heating in the northeastern United States.

Last week, diesel stocks in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States fell to 19.7 million barrels, the lowest seasonal level in nearly seven years, according to EIA.

Copper

Compared with the surge in energy and agricultural prices this week, metal prices have generally performed poorly this week, whether industrial metals represented by copper or precious metals represented by gold.

LME copper futures fell sharply on Friday, falling about 4.5 per cent this week, the biggest weekly decline since October, as the prospect of central bank tightening reduced investor interest in risky assets and boosted the dollar.

Ole Hansen, an analyst at Saxo Bank, said price weakness is likely to last until the end of next week's Lunar New year holiday, when demand is usually low.

"check the spot price of SMM copper

Gold

In the precious metals market, spot gold recorded its biggest weekly decline in five months this week, falling below its 100-day and 200-day moving averages on Thursday as rising expectations of a rise in US interest rates pushed the dollar to multi-month highs after the Fed hinted that it would take more aggressive measures to curb inflation.

Fed Chairman Colin Powell has made it clear that the Fed will act to cool the worst inflation in nearly 40 years, including a possible rate hike in March and a more frequent and larger rate hike than expected. With money markets expected to raise interest rates nearly five times this year, traders are now increasing their bets on rising borrowing costs.

Author: Xiaoxiang

The original title: "the degree of ups and downs does not seem to be inferior to that of the stock market?" Global commodity markets have experienced a "magic week"