Commodity Investment guidelines and updates

BASE METAL WRAP: Copper climbed on Thursday, with Shanghai copper hitting a one-week high on better-than-expected inflation numbers from top metals consumer China. Investors are also expected to scour China and U.S. data due later in the day for hints on the health of the world's economy and what this means for global metals demand. Nickel, zinc and tin also dropped, while aluminum and lead gained in London.

ENERGY WRAP: Crude oil futures prices declined by 0.37% to Rs 5,130 per barrel today largely in tandem with a weak trend in Asian trade on profit-booking. Participants offloaded on speculation that recent gains were excessive amid signs of a weakening demand in the US, the world's biggest consumer of crude. Meanwhile, crude oil for delivery in September fell 33 cents to $93.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural-gas futures dropped in New York for the first time in three days on concern that a supply glut will worsen once the summer cooling season ends.

PRECIOUS METAL WRAP: Gold advanced for the third time in four sessions on speculation that central banks will take steps to bolster their economies, increasing the appeal of the precious metal as a store of value. Gold futures for December delivery gained 0.2 percent to settle at $1,616 an ounce on the Comex. The price has climbed 1.6 percent since Aug. 2.Silver futures for September delivery declined less than 0.1 percent to $28.075 an ounce in New York.


GLOBAL EVENTS TO WATCH: Fixed Asset Investment ytd/y, Industrial Production y/y, Retail Sales y/y, Prelim Machine Tool Orders y/y, BOJ Press Conference, ECB Monthly Bulletin, Italian Trade Balance, Trade Balance, CB Leading Index m/m, Housing Starts, NHPI m/m, Trade Balance, Trade Balance, Unemployment Claims, Wholesale Inventories m/m, Natural Gas Storage, 30-y Bond Auction

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