NGAS Hovering Around 12-week Lows, Cotton Touching 15-month Lows, Gold Futures Weighed Down By Strong US Dollar
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Summary:
- NGAS prices in the US reached their highest summer levels since 2008.
- Economic uncertainty around cotton demand persists.
- Gold futures amidst hawkish central banks.
NGAS supply concerns persist
Pressure from record domestic supply levels and waning weather-driven demand as the weather turned cooler kept US natural gas contracts around a 12-week low. In the first eight months of 2022, natural gas output in the US is anticipated to have increased by around 4% from a year earlier, hitting a record high of 101 Bcf/d in late September. Additionally, the protracted outage at the Texas Freeport LNG export facility has already decreased US natural gas use for months, leaving more gas for US utilities to add to reserves in preparation for the next winter. A series of heat waves across the US raised the need for cooling at a time when there was an increase in demand for US LNG exports due to worries about shortages in Europe. At the same time, natural gas prices in the US reached their highest summer levels since 2008.
NGAS Nov ‘22 Futures Price Chart
Cotton weighed down by demand concerns
Trading in cotton futures was below a level not seen since July 2021 as traders considered the likelihood of more supply and less demand as a result of quicker rate hikes and economic uncertainty. Regarding the supply, the USDA's most recent report showed that the crop of US cotton increased from 12.48 million acres in August to 13.79 million acres in September, or over 19% more than the 11.22 million acres planted in 2021. 375 lakh bales are anticipated to be produced in India, another major producer, during the season 2022–23, assuming that the weather is cooperative through October. Crops are still in danger because of unfavorable weather and pest infestations in the main growing regions.
Cotton Dec ‘22 Futures Price Chart
Gold weighed down by strong US Dollar
After breaching the crucial $1,700 barrier earlier in the session, gold prices retreated toward $1,690 an ounce on Tuesday, constrained by a strong dollar and amid anticipation that the US Federal Reserve will move through with its aggressive plan to combat high inflation. John Williams, president of the New York Fed Bank, stated on Monday that the US still has "major ways to go" in terms of monetary tightening because interest rates have not yet reached levels that are constrictive for economic growth. The European Central Bank is also anticipated to announce another significant rate increase, as the euro zone's inflation rate surpassed expectations in September to reach a new record high of 10%. The metal, meanwhile, rose more than 2% on Monday to its best levels in almost three weeks as Treasury yields dropped precipitously and the dollar suffered from weaker-than-expected US manufacturing data, which fueled hopes that the US central bank could pause the tempo of rate increases.
Gold Dec ‘22 Futures Price Chart
Sources: finance.yahoo.com, tradingeconomics.com
