From Hard Assets Investor:
Oil was the only notable mover today; other commodities were narrowly mixed.
Gold and silver edged marginally higher, while crude oil pulled back in a mixed session for commodities. At the same time, stock markets fell slightly as traders digested the latest corporate earnings releases.
According to Bloomberg, 84 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings thus far have beaten analyst estimates, while 51 percent have topped revenue estimates. Still, earnings on the whole are anticipated to drop 4.3 percent year-over-year in the quarter due to the sharp decline in oil prices from last year....MORE
Elsewhere, news flow was light; no notable economic data was released.
Taking a look at currency markets, the U.S. Dollar Index was last trading unchanged at 97.96. In bond markets, the U.S. 10-year yield rose by 2 basis points to 1.91 percent.
- Gold remained close to the magnetic $1,200 level today. The yellow metal rose by $5.47, or 0.46 percent, to $1,201.35, while silver rose by $0.03, or 0.16 percent, to $16.
Platinum lost $0.40, or 0.03 percent, to $1,148.65 and palladium dipped by $2.15, or 0.28 percent, to $772.70.
"We're looking at currency and bonds today. We saw the dollar index start off really strong, and now has backed off and turned [flat]," said Phillip Streible, senior commodities broker at RJO Futures.- Crude oil retreated from the highest levels of the year ahead of the release of the weekly inventory data from the EIA on Wednesday. Brent was last trading down by $1.20, or 1.89 percent, to $62.25, while WTI lost $1.12, or 1.99 percent, to $55.26.
Saudi Arabia announced the end of military operations in Yemen, easing geopolitical concerns.
"I don't think anybody expected the military operation to end so quickly," said Phil Flynn, analyst at the Price Futures Group. "It definitely accelerated the selling [in oil]."- Natural gas climbed $0.04, or 1.46 percent, to $2.57/mmbtu.
"The market...is going to just [play] around between $2.48 and $2.69," said Frank Clements, co-owner of Meridian Energy Brokers Inc. "Longer-term, the whole thing is pointing lower, but, shorter-term, it just isn't ready to go there."
