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Commodities Market Watch

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Reference10 Jul 2026
Published13 Jul 2026
Brent Crude
76.01 $/bbl
Weekly ▲ +5.86%
WTI Crude
71.41 $/bbl
Weekly ▲ +3.96%
Gold
4,104.10 $/oz
Weekly ▼ -0.21%
Silver
59.81 $/oz
Weekly ▼ -1.37%
LME Copper
13,408 $/t
Weekly ▲ +0.83%
DXY
100.97
Weekly ▲ +0.11%

Executive Summary

What the tape says this week
Weekly read — 10 Jul 2026

Risk-on returns: a fragile Iran ceasefire unravels and crude jumps ~6%, base metals firm on drawing stocks, while a steady dollar lets bullion consolidate

This was a cyclical week. Crude and the industrial complex led higher on genuine supply signals while the dollar sat still — the mirror image of the macro-led moves of recent weeks. With DXY essentially flat, the tape was driven by physical fundamentals rather than FX, and precious metals were left to consolidate after their earlier correction.

Crude did the heavy lifting. A fragile Iran ceasefire began to unravel, re-injecting a geopolitical supply-risk premium just as fuel demand and weather risks firmed the near-term balance. Brent jumped 5.86% to $76.01/bbl and WTI 3.96% to $71.41/bbl, recovering much of the ground lost in late June — a supply-side repricing rather than a demand story, since Chinese activity signals stayed soft.

Base metals firmed broadly, and for once the move was backed by the warehouses. LME cash stocks drew across the complex — copper inventories fell to 306,500t from ~319,000t a week earlier, with aluminium, zinc and tin all lower — a visible physical tightening. Aluminium rose 2.47% to $3,156/t, nickel 1.83% to $16,410/t, zinc 1.58% to $3,602/t and copper 0.83% to $13,408/t, the metal-by-metal gains pointing to real demand meeting drawing supply.

Precious metals moved from liquidation to consolidation. Gold was near-unchanged, down 0.21% to $4,104.10/oz, and silver eased 1.37% to $59.81/oz as the safe-haven bid faded into the risk-on tone; the gold–silver ratio ticked up to ~69 from ~68. With the dollar flat, this reads as bullion catching its breath after the spring’s big moves rather than a fresh trend down — the official-sector anchor remains in the background.

For the week ahead, watch (i) whether the Iran ceasefire holds or frays further — the swing factor for how much of the fresh crude premium sticks; (ii) US inflation and Fed communication, which will decide whether the dollar stays becalmed or resumes a trend; and (iii) LME inventory trends, where continued draws in copper, aluminium and zinc would validate the physical-tightening thesis now doing the work in the base complex.

Brent crude — 5Y, USD/bbl

Daily close, thinned to weekly cadence (ICE Brent front-month)

Gold – Silver ratio

Gold / silver oz-for-oz; tracks relative value

LME Copper — 5Y, USD/t

LME cash settlement; bellwether for industrial demand

LME Aluminium — 5Y, USD/t

LME cash settlement; power-cost & green-build proxy

Crude Oil

Brent & WTI — supply, demand and term structure
Context. Crude snapped back on a supply scare. A fragile Iran ceasefire began to unravel, restoring a geopolitical risk premium, while firmer fuel demand and weather risks tightened the near-term balance. The dollar sat still, so this was a clean supply-side repricing — not an FX move — even as Chinese demand signals stayed lacklustre in the background.

Brent crude (USD/bbl)

5Y daily close, thinned to weekly

WTI crude (USD/bbl)

5Y daily close, thinned to weekly

Read of the week

Brent jumped 5.86% to $76.01/bbl and WTI 3.96% to $71.41/bbl, recovering most of late June’s slide as the Iran ceasefire frayed and a geopolitical premium was rebuilt into the front of the curve. We nudge the working range up to $70–82. The bull case is a fuller breakdown of the truce or a supply accident that keeps the premium in place; the bear case is a durable de-escalation alongside still-soft Chinese demand, which would let the premium bleed out again. With positioning having leaned short into the pullback, this week’s rally also carries a squeeze component — worth watching if headlines turn.

Precious Metals

Gold, silver and the ratio
Context. Bullion shifted from liquidation to consolidation this week. With the dollar flat and risk appetite returning to the cyclical complex, the safe-haven bid faded and gold and silver drifted sideways-to-lower — a market seeking a floor after the spring’s large moves rather than starting a fresh leg down. The official-sector bid remains the structural anchor underneath.

Gold (USD/oz)

5Y daily close, thinned to weekly — COMEX active month

Silver (USD/oz)

5Y daily close, thinned to weekly — COMEX active month

Gold – Silver ratio — 5Y

Higher ratio = silver cheaper vs gold; long-run mean ~70

Read of the week

Gold was near-unchanged, down 0.21% to $4,104.10/oz, and silver eased 1.37% to $59.81/oz as the risk-on tone pulled money toward the cyclicals and away from the safe havens. The gold–silver ratio ticked up to ~69 from ~68, still around its long-run mean. The read: with the dollar flat, this is consolidation rather than a rates-driven breakdown — gold is basing while it waits for the next US inflation print, and silver, the higher-beta of the pair, takes the slightly larger swing on the softer tape. Direction from here belongs to real yields and the dollar more than to any single headline.

Base Metals

LME cash — copper, aluminium, zinc, nickel, tin, lead
Context. The base complex firmed broadly this week, and the move was backed by the warehouses. LME cash stocks drew across copper, aluminium, zinc and tin — a visible physical tightening — while a flat dollar removed any FX headwind. With real demand meeting drawing supply, the metals rose largely in unison, a cleaner signal than the scattered moves of recent weeks.

Copper (USD/t)

LME cash settlement
Copper rose 0.83% to $13,408/t as LME stocks drew to 306,500t from ~319,000t a week earlier — a clear physical tightening. Chilean output near multi-year lows and trimmed DRC guidance keep supply constrained, while the grid / AI-datacentre / EV demand stack underpins the structural-deficit thesis. Soft Chinese signals still cap the pace of the advance, but the inventory draw is doing real work.

Aluminium (USD/t)

LME cash settlement
Aluminium rose 2.47% to $3,156/t, among the week’s stronger performers, as LME stocks drew to 287,725t from ~299,000t. The rebound is inventory-led rather than a fundamental re-rating: primary supply remains ample and any sustained rally still leans on curtailed capacity staying offline. For now the stock draw and firmer energy costs are enough to lift the price.

Zinc (USD/t)

LME cash settlement
Zinc rose 1.58% to $3,602/t, extending its firm run. Still-compressed concentrate treatment charges and steady galvanised-steel demand underpin the balance, and with LME stocks easing to ~114,800t the metal keeps finding support. Zinc remains one of the tighter stories in the complex on the concentrate side.

Nickel (USD/t)

LME cash settlement
Nickel rose 1.83% to $16,410/t, lifted by the broad risk-on tone rather than any change in its own balance. Ample Indonesian primary supply and mixed stainless-steel demand remain the structural cap, and with inventories flat the metal simply tracked the firmer complex higher this week.

Tin (USD/t)

LME cash settlement
Tin rose 1.11% to $52,575/t, holding its perch as the priciest of the base metals. Persistent Myanmar supply disruption and solder demand from advanced-packaging semiconductors keep the structural floor high; with LME stocks thin at ~8,000t, even modest buying keeps the price firm.

Lead (USD/t)

LME cash settlement
Lead was flat at $1,851/t, once again the complex laggard below the $2,000 handle. Replacement-battery demand is the steady anchor and secondary supply stays tight, but with no fresh catalyst lead sat out the week’s broad advance — its low beta leaving it anchored while the cyclicals rose.

USD & Macro

Dollar Index & FX cross-check
Context. The dollar was becalmed this week. DXY edged up 0.11% to 100.97 — effectively flat — even as COT data showed elevated dollar and rate bets rebuilding. With FX neutral, the week’s commodity moves were driven by supply and inventories rather than the currency, giving an unusually clean read on the underlying tape.

DXY — 5Y

Trade-weighted USD vs EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, SEK, CHF

Cross-check

DXY edged up 0.11% to 100.97, essentially flat. That makes this week’s cross-check unusually clean: with the currency neutral, crude’s ~6% jump and the broad base-metal gains are pure supply and inventory stories, not FX translation, and bullion’s mild softness is risk-appetite rotation rather than a dollar effect. A flat index cannot explain any of the week’s moves — so geopolitics (oil) and drawing LME stocks (metals) are doing all the work. The watch item is whether the rebuilding dollar and rate bets flagged in COT data start to bite; if the dollar breaks higher, it would become a headwind for the cyclical complex that led this week.

World Bank Pink Sheet

Monthly USD prices — June 2026 release
The World Bank Pink Sheet is the canonical monthly reference for global commodity prices in USD. The June 2026 release shows the energy complex rolling over hard from its mid-year spike — Brent averaged $85.4/bbl, down 20.6% on the month — while industrial metals held firm year-on-year (copper +37.8%, tin +63.0%, aluminium +36.1% YoY) even as several eased month-on-month. Precious metals softened on the month (gold −7.8%, silver −14.5% MoM) but remain sharply higher YoY (silver +85.3%). Because the series are monthly averages, they lag the daily futures and LME tape: the early-July rebound in crude and the broad firming in base metals will land in the July print, not yet visible here. The tables track the latest monthly average against the 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month change, grouped by the World Bank’s own taxonomy — a slow-frequency cross-check on transacted physical prices rather than paper barrels.
Energy
CommodityLatestMoM3-M6-MYoY
Brent$/bbl 85.40 ▼ -20.6% ▼ -17.6% ▲ +36.2% ▲ +19.4%
Dubai$/bbl 77.70 ▼ -18.0% ▼ -15.5% ▲ +25.3% ▲ +13.4%
WTI$/bbl 81.90 ▼ -17.4% ▼ -10.2% ▲ +41.5% ▲ +21.3%
Crude oil, avg$/bbl 81.70 ▼ -18.6% ▼ -14.5% ▲ +34.2% ▲ +18.2%
Coal, Australian$/mt 138.50 ▲ +1.2% ▼ -0.1% ▲ +28.6% ▲ +27.1%
Coal, S. African$/mt 96.30 ▲ +0.7% ▲ +2.7% ▲ +5.9% ▲ +2.7%
Natural gas, US$/mmbtu 3.15 ▲ +7.5% ▲ +2.9% ▼ -25.9% ▲ +4.3%
Natural gas, Europe$/mmbtu 15.17 ▼ -6.2% ▼ -15.3% ▲ +60.0% ▲ +22.6%
LNG, Japan$/mmbtu 12.83 ▼ -0.4% ▲ +12.3% ▲ +13.3% ▲ +5.4%
Fertilizers
CommodityLatestMoM3-M6-MYoY
Phosphate rock$/mt 156.90 ▲ +2.9% ▲ +2.9% ▲ +2.9% ▲ +2.9%
DAP$/mt 783.80 ▲ +1.9% ▲ +19.1% ▲ +24.9% ▲ +9.6%
TSP$/mt 735.60 ▲ +3.1% ▲ +31.8% ▲ +36.6% ▲ +14.7%
Urea$/mt 453.10 ▼ -41.2% ▼ -37.6% ▲ +15.4% ▲ +7.8%
Potassium chloride$/mt 402.50 ▼ -0.6% ▲ +5.8% ▲ +12.3% ▲ +10.9%
Metals & Minerals
CommodityLatestMoM3-M6-MYoY
Aluminum$/mt 3,439 ▼ -6.2% ▲ +2.0% ▲ +19.6% ▲ +36.1%
Copper$/mt 13,552 ▲ +0.1% ▲ +8.2% ▲ +15.0% ▲ +37.8%
Iron ore$/dmtu 100.80 ▼ -7.2% ▼ -3.5% ▼ -3.6% ▲ +9.2%
Lead$/mt 1,946 ▼ -2.3% ▲ +3.6% ▲ +0.3% ▼ -1.4%
Nickel$/mt 17,588 ▼ -6.5% ▲ +3.0% ▲ +18.2% ▲ +17.2%
Tin$/mt 53,037 ▼ -1.0% ▲ +12.1% ▲ +28.7% ▲ +63.0%
Zinc$/mt 3,539 ▲ +1.6% ▲ +11.2% ▲ +11.7% ▲ +33.3%
Precious Metals
CommodityLatestMoM3-M6-MYoY
Gold$/troy oz 4,228 ▼ -7.8% ▼ -12.9% ▼ -1.9% ▲ +26.1%
Silver$/troy oz 66.70 ▼ -14.5% ▼ -14.4% ▲ +7.1% ▲ +85.3%
Platinum$/troy oz 1,726 ▼ -13.6% ▼ -15.6% ▼ -8.8% ▲ +38.0%
Other Commodities
CommodityLatestMoM3-M6-MYoY
Cocoa$/kg 4.40 ▲ +5.8% ▲ +35.8% ▼ -23.9% ▼ -47.6%
Coffee, Arabica$/kg 6.79 ▼ -2.3% ▼ -7.9% ▼ -19.2% ▼ -15.2%
Coffee, Robusta$/kg 3.73 ▲ +1.6% ▼ -4.4% ▼ -11.2% ▼ -13.9%
Cotton, A Index$/kg 1.90 ▼ -6.4% ▲ +11.8% ▲ +16.6% ▲ +9.8%
Rubber, RSS3$/kg 2.86 ▲ +6.3% ▲ +19.7% ▲ +38.8% ▲ +32.4%
Rubber, TSR20$/kg 2.25 ▲ +1.8% ▲ +15.4% ▲ +29.3% ▲ +39.8%

Methodology

How we build and read the tape

Pricing & cadence

Crude. Brent and WTI futures front-month settlements from ICE / NYMEX via Yahoo Finance, 5Y daily history with the prior Friday’s close as the weekly reference.

Precious metals. COMEX active-month gold and silver futures settlements via Yahoo Finance.

Base metals. LME official cash settlement for Cu, Al, Zn, Ni, Sn and Pb, sourced from Westmetall (5Y daily history).

USD. ICE Dollar Index (DXY) futures, daily close, via Yahoo Finance.

Pink Sheet. World Bank Commodity Markets Outlook — monthly USD spot prices across energy, metals, fertilisers, precious metals and softs.

Refreshed every Monday morning using the prior Friday’s close. This week, US futures markets were closed on Friday 3 July for Independence Day, so crude, precious and DXY reference Thursday 2 July’s settlement; LME base metals reference Friday 3 July’s cash.

How we read the tape

Every weekly call is built around three lenses:

(i) Supply vs. demand. The physical balance — mine output, OPEC+ discipline, refining margins, smelter restarts, inventories — sets the medium-term anchor.

(ii) Physical vs. financial flows. Positioning, ETF holdings, COT data and term structure tell us where the marginal price is being set and whether moves are sustainable.

(iii) USD cross-check. Every commodity is quoted in dollars; we always read the move against DXY to separate genuine commodity strength from FX translation.

All prices are in US dollars.

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