Gold Prices Move Cautiously Ahead Of US Inflation Data

Wednesday 27 November 2024 08:24 | Economic Number of readings: 138  Baghdad / NINA / Gold prices fluctuated in a narrow range during Asian trading on Wednesday, amid a set of factors affecting investors, most notably anticipation of US inflation data, which will give indications about the potential extent of the Federal Reserve's (the US central bank) interest rate cut next month.

Spot gold settled at $2,635.56 per ounce by dawn on Wednesday, and basically moved within a narrow range of nine dollars during the session. Gold recorded its lowest level in more than a week yesterday, Tuesday.

US gold futures rose 0.6 percent to $2,635.80.

As for other precious metals, spot silver fell 0.1 percent to $30.39 per ounce, platinum settled at $927.45, and palladium fell 0.4 percent to $973.50.

“There’s a geopolitical element to all of this, with some selling pressure coming from the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon,” said Kyle Rodda, a financial markets analyst at Capital.com.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, brokered by the United States and France, went into effect at 0200 GMT on Wednesday.

Gold is considered a safe-haven investment in times of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, such as trade wars and other conflicts.

“Longer term, I think the trade war that (US President-elect Donald) Trump is going to start could be positive for gold because of the high debt burden and some abandonment of the dollar,” Rodda said.

Federal Reserve officials were divided over whether to cut interest rates again at their meeting earlier this month, but agreed to avoid offering too much guidance on the future direction of monetary policy.

Markets are currently pricing in a 63 percent chance of a 25 basis point rate cut in December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Traders will be closely watching the Core PCE, Jobless Claims and First GDP Revision data, due later today./End9   https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1171363

Economist: Non-Oil Revenues To Achieve Significant Growth In 2024

Wednesday 27 November 2024 | Economic Number of readings: 204  Baghdad / NINA / Economic expert Manar Al-Obaidi, a member of the Political Economic Center, announced that the non-oil revenues of the Iraqi state grew during the first nine months of 2024 by 198% to reach the 12.3% barrier of its contribution to the total revenues of the Iraqi state.

Al-Obaidi said in a statement that the total non-oil revenues of the Iraqi state during this period amounted to 14 trillion Iraqi dinars, up from the same period in 2023, which was about 4.7 trillion dinars. Despite the decrease in the value of revenues resulting from taxes on income and wealth by 17%, the increase in commodity taxes by 275% and the increase in the budget's share of public sector profits by 243% contributed to this significant increase.

He explained that for the first time since 2003, non-oil revenues constituted 12% of total revenues and the contribution of oil revenues decreased to reach 88% of total revenues.

He added that the total revenues until September 2024 amounted to 114 trillion Iraqi dinars, an increase of 19% compared to the same period in 2023, which amounted to 95.85 trillion Iraqi dinars.

The improvement in non-oil revenues is due to the reforms made in the tax and customs file, in addition to encouraging profitable public companies to increase their contribution to government revenues. It is expected that non-oil revenues in 2024 will reach the barrier of 18 trillion Iraqi dinars. Despite the increase in this number, it is still far from the planned number in the budget, which amounts to about 28 trillion Iraqi dinars. However, this improvement in these revenues reflects the success of the reforms made in the field of collection and work to increase payment through electronic outlets. / End 9

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Oil Prices Stabilize Amid Anticipation Of Calm In The Middle East

Time: 2024/11/27 17:52:24 Reading: 546 times  {Economic: Al Furat News} Oil prices witnessed stability during trading on Wednesday, as markets assessed the potential impact of the ceasefire agreement between the Zionist entity and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Markets are also awaiting the OPEC+ meeting next Sunday, in which the producer alliance is expected to decide to postpone the start of the previously agreed production increase.

Price movements

By 1300 GMT, Brent crude futures were up 33 cents, or 0.45 percent, at $73.49 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 37 cents, or 0.54 percent, at $69.14.

Both benchmarks settled lower on Tuesday after Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah.  The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and France, came into effect on Wednesday. LINK

Parliamentary Oil: Amending A Paragraph In The Budget Enhances Oil Exports And Understanding With Kurdistan

Time: 2024/11/27 Reading: 936 times  {Economic: Al Furat News} The Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee confirmed, today, Wednesday, that amending the paragraph on paying the costs of extracting the Kurdistan Region’s oil and handing it over to “SOMO” opens the way for expanding exports and improving coordination between the region and the center.

Member of the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, Kazem Al-Tawki, told Al-Furat News Agency that “Iraq is committed to the OPEC system in determining the quantities of oil production, noting that production sometimes falls below the specified ceiling.”

He added: "The recent agreement with the Kurdistan Region included amending a paragraph in the budget related to paying the financial costs of extracting oil and delivering it to SOMO, which opens the way for expanding exports or directing the region's oil to refineries."

He stressed the importance of this understanding between the region, the center and the Ministry of Oil to achieve better coordination in the management of oil resources.   LINK

In Numbers.. Significant Growth In Non-Oil Revenues In Iraq During 2024

Time: 2024/11/27 Read: 1,872 times  {Economic: Al Furat News} Iraq's non-oil revenues achieved significant growth during the first nine months of 2024, recording a 198% increase compared to last year, to reach a contribution of 12.3% of the state's total revenues

Economic expert, Manar Al-Obaidi, said in a statement received by {Al-Furat News}, "According to official data, total non-oil revenues during this period amounted to 14 trillion Iraqi dinars, compared to 4.7 trillion dinars during the same period in 2023."

He added: "Despite the 17% decrease in income and wealth tax revenues, commodity taxes increased by 275%, in addition to the increase in public sector profits contributing to the budget by 243%."

He continued: "For the first time since 2003, non-oil revenues constituted 12% of total Iraqi revenues. Total state revenues until September 2024 amounted to about 114 trillion Iraqi dinars, an increase of 19% compared to last year."

Non-oil revenues are expected to reach 18 trillion dinars by the end of the year, a figure that is considered high but less than the budget target of 28 trillion dinars.  LINK

What Is Iraq's Connection? Goldman Sachs: OPEC+ Cuts May Support Oil In The Short Term

Energy  Economy News - Follow-up  Crude oil production in Iraq, Kazakhstan and Russia has fallen in compliance with OPEC+ production cuts, supporting some upside for Brent prices in the near term, according to a recent note from Goldman Sachs.

The investment bank added in its note issued yesterday, Tuesday, that Saudi Arabia is likely to extend oil production cuts due to the recent decline in prices, and that it now believes that oil production cuts will continue until April 2025 instead of January.

Goldman Sachs maintained its forecast for the average price of Brent crude for 2025 at $76 per barrel.

Two OPEC+ sources told Reuters that the group, which includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, is discussing another delay to the oil production increase that was scheduled to start in January.

At the group's most recent meeting on November 3, OPEC+ agreed to postpone a production increase scheduled for December for a month.

The bank said that "any increase in OPEC+ production will be gradual and data-dependent."

Goldman Sachs added that the high level of compliance with OPEC+ production cuts indicates that the group's member states are working together to stabilize oil prices.

He said that the production of Iraq, Kazakhstan and Russia decreased by 0.5 million barrels per day in November.

OPEC members are unlikely to backtrack on voluntary production cuts in the near term, executives from global commodity trading giants Vitol, Trafigura and Gunvor told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London.

But despite OPEC+ production cuts and delays to boost output, Brent crude futures have mostly remained in a $70-$80 range this year, trading below $74 on Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs last week revised its forecast for Brent prices to an average of $80 per barrel this year, despite a supply deficit and geopolitical uncertainty in 2024, pointing to an expected surplus in 2025.

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