1. Oil traders await OPEC meeting in the first week of December

November 23, 2018

Saudi Arabia is pushing OPEC nations to cut oil production by 1.4 million barrels a day though Russia has asked OPEC nations to wait for the winter season demand before cutting the production. Crude prices dropped significantly in the last one month; Brent oil lost nearly 30% during this period from the recent top and this is a major reason of worry for OPEC.

Source: Economic times

2. Gold stuck up in range of $1200-$1230 per ounce, Indian demand dropped

November 21, 2018

International gold prices are trading in a range of $1200-$1230 in recent weeks. In India, prices are turning weak on the back of a strong rupee against the dollar. Asian demand is looking weak on poor response from gold consumers in India. There is a high possibility of dollar decline in India against rupee to 68-69 levels in the coming months which may further weaken domestic gold prices.

Source: Business Line

3. India imported 21 million tonne in Oct 2018 which is highest in seven years

November 22, 2018

India, which imported 19MT crude oil during October 2017, imported 21MT in October 2018, which is a 10.5% surge compared to the same month last year. Indian fuel consumption also grew by 4%. According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, Indian domestic oil production dropped by 7%, and import dependency also rose to 83.5%.

Source: Financial Express

4. Sugar Millers from Maharashtra approaching Centre to increase MSP by Rs. 500 per quintal

November 21, 2018

Sugar millers are approaching the Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister to increase MSP for sugar by Rs. 500 per quintal to Rs. 3,400 per quintal. In Maharashtra, Minimum Support Price (MSP) was Rs. 2,900 per quintal during 2017-18.

Source: Financial Express

5. Gold demand expected to reduce during this wedding season on high prices

November 20, 2018

Gold demand which jumped more than 10% during the July-Sept quarter is expected to drop this wedding season during November and December as gold prices are still 6% higher in comparison to last year due to weakness in the Indian rupee. Jewelers are offering at least Rs. 50-100 per gram discount to attract buyers with additional discount in making charges which are mostly fixed near 7%.

Source: Business Standard

6. Indian sugar will be delivered on London exchange

November 16, 2018

India produced 32.40 million tonnes of sugar during the marketing year of Oct 2017-Sept 2018, which have increased surplus production at all time high. Now many players have started importing Indian sugar and which will be delivered on London based exchanges. Indian millers will export 8,35,000 tons of sugar this year.

Source: Economic Times

7. Indian foreign exchange reserve dropped to $393.01 billion

November 16, 2018

In RBI’s weekly report, foreign exchange reserves dropped by $121.2 million in the week of November 9th from 393.1 billion to $393.01 billion. This reserve includes gold, SDR’s and foreign currencies. Other then US dollar, it consists 20-30% of other major global currencies.

Source: Business Standard

8. Indian refined copper output has fallen 54.8% during the first half of the current FY

November 22, 2018

Indian refined copper output has fallen 54.8% during the first half of the financial year 2018-19 due to a shutdown of the 4,00,000-tonne Tuticorin smelter, which accounted for 40% of the country’s copper smelting capacity.

Source: Financial Express