Forex Market Update

 

The dollar shrugged off a slate of weak economic data Monday to trade higher against the euro, yen and pound, benefiting from a surprise rate cut from the People’s Bank of China.

The euro EURUSD, +0.12%  fell to $1.1182, flat compared with its Friday-afternoon value of $1.1198. The buck USDJPY, -0.34%  traded at 120.18 yen, its highest level in nearly three weeks. It traded at ¥119.63 Friday.

 The pound GBPUSD, +0.11%  traded at $1.5366, compared with $1.5440 Friday.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six rival currencies, DXY, -0.17%  rose 0.2% to 95.47.

Silver Market Update

May silver SIK5, +0.33%  declined by 10.7 cents, or 0.7%, to $16.451 an ounce.

April platinum PLJ5, -0.38%  rose $4.30 to $1,189.90 an ounce. 

June palladium PAM5, -0.73%  tacked on $11.60 to $831.10 an ounce. 

May copper HGK5, -1.17%  added less than a cent to $2.6975 a pound.

Gas Market Update

April natural gas NGJ15, -1.30%  fell 3.6 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $2.698 per million British thermal units.

Gasoline Market Update

 April gasoline RBJ5, +1.34%  fell 8.1 cents, or 4.1%, to end at $1.897 a gallon.

 April heating oil HOJ5, +0.82%  settled at $1.887 a gallon, down 8.6 cents, or 4.4%. 

Futures prices for both products scored double-digit percentage gains for the month of February.

WTI crude oil retreats as losses in Brent intensify

West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures turned lower on Monday to slip back below $50 a barrel by the close, but prices still narrowed their spread with Brent crude as losses for the European benchmark also worsened.

crude futures for delivery in April CLJ5, +0.73%  fell 17 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $49.59 a barrel. Prices had spent much of Monday’s trading session above the $50 mark, but turned lower in the last half hour of the trading session as losses for Brent crude intensified.

April Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange LCOJ5, +1.49% dropped $3.04, or 4.9%, to settle at $59.54 a barrel.