Commodity market looked for direction last week

ISTANBUL

The commodity market continued its search for direction last week.

The commodity market was supported by growing expectations that the US Federal Reserve's hawkish policies had come to an end and that the global demand for the dollar was continuing to decline.

The dollar index maintained its downward trend for the third week in a row to end last week at 103.2, down 0.2%.

Ongoing concerns about the Chinese economy turned up the selling pressure in the commodity market, especially for base metals.

Production-related forecasts and weather conditions were other prominent factors affecting agricultural commodities.

The price of an ounce of gold, which ended last week with a 3.4% rise at $2071.51, broke the record with $2145.12 on the first trading day of this week.

Last week, silver gained 4.6% and platinum 0.3%, while palladium lost 6.5%.

In the over-the-counter market, copper went up by 2.3% and nickel by 4.1%. On the other hand, lead slipped by 4.4%, aluminum by 1.4% and zinc by 3.1%.

Wheat, corn and soybeans traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange climbed by 4.4%, 0.5% and 0.5%, while rice dropped by 1.7%.

Cotton traded on the Intercontinental Exchange in the US lost 1.9% and sugar 3.5%. The prices of coffee and cocoa hiked by 9.4% and 2.8%, respectively.