Commodity Overview: Oil Prices Surge, London Copper Falls, Gold Prices Drop for Sixth Consecutive Day

Oil prices rise as Iran and Israel take turns attacking key energy facilities, intensifying market volatility. Copper in London declines. Gold falls for the sixth consecutive day, marking the longest losing streak since late 2024.

Crude Oil: Prices Surge as More Middle Eastern Energy Infrastructure Targets Hit

Oil prices are rising, with Iran and Israel repeatedly attacking critical energy facilities, increasing market turbulence.

During Thursday’s Asian morning trading, the most active WTI futures contract rose as much as 3.4% to $98.69 per barrel.

Brent crude settled around $107 per barrel on Wednesday; European natural gas benchmarks surged 6% on the same day.

QatarEnergy said that following an attack on Iran, Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, home to the world’s largest liquefied natural gas export plant, suffered “serious damage.”

Earlier, Iran warned Gulf countries that several energy facilities have become “legitimate targets” after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars gas field.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated he was aware of Israel’s attack on South Pars in advance but did not want to launch further strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure.

Trump also temporarily exempted a century-old shipping regulation to reduce transportation costs for oil, natural gas, and other bulk commodities within the U.S.

Base Metals: London Copper Declines

London copper fell after Iran warned it would target Gulf energy assets in retaliation for attacks on its gas fields.

Most other metal prices also declined as investors weighed the threat of demand reduction from Middle Eastern conflict against the risk of supply disruptions in the region.

Aluminum prices closed roughly flat on Wednesday but fluctuated during the day due to the conflict, with some suppliers cutting output and halting sales as the Strait of Hormuz neared shutdown. Smelters typically hold only a few weeks’ worth of alumina inventories, and traders and analysts expect widespread production cuts unless more cargo can soon pass through the strait.

By the close, LME copper fell 3% to $12,395.5 per ton.

LME aluminum was roughly unchanged at $3,400 per ton.

LME nickel declined 0.3% to $17,151 per ton.

LME zinc dropped 2.9% to $3,133.5 per ton.

LME tin fell 3.6% to $45,063 per ton.

LME lead decreased 0.8% to $1,913.5 per ton.

Precious Metals: Gold Prices Drop for Sixth Straight Day

Gold declined for the sixth consecutive day, the longest streak since late 2024, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said higher energy prices would push up overall inflation.

As Powell emphasized the importance of keeping interest rates at “somewhat restrictive” levels, bond yields and the dollar continued to rise, while traders lowered expectations for rate cuts this year. This caused gold, usually performing well in a rate-cutting environment and priced in dollars, to fall 3%.

As of 6:08 p.m. New York time, spot gold was down 3.7% at $4,818.5 per ounce.

Spot silver declined 4.9% to $75.3722 per ounce.