Welcome to Markets Desk, your end-of-week wrap on the commodities floor.
Natural gas led the energy complex higher Friday, with July Nymex contracts settling up modestly after touching a two-and-a-half-month high. The driver was straightforward: forecasters at Vaisala are calling for above-normal temperatures across the United States in June, pushing power generators toward heavier gas consumption to meet air-conditioning demand.
Turning to the soft commodities, sugar prices jumped sharply on both the New York and London exchanges Friday. July world sugar closed nearly one percent higher, while London white sugar surged close to three percent. Traders are pricing in the risk that an emerging El Niño pattern weakens India's monsoon season, threatening cane output from one of the world's largest producers.
Meanwhile, coffee moved hard in the opposite direction. July arabica fell more than three percent to a one-week low, and robusta shed over two percent as well. The selloff came after updated weather forecasts pointed to dry conditions returning to Brazil's key growing regions, clearing the path for harvest crews to resume work and easing the supply concerns that had been propping up prices.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
