Saxo Bank's Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen has his weekly update on the markets:  

The best performing sector for a second week is the industrial metal sector with aluminium and copper receiving a boost from improved Chinese data and signs that US housing and employment data also continue to improve. Nickel meanwhile was higher following the recent bout of long liquidation as supply concerns related to Indonesia and a the continued suspension of production at a Vale mine in New Caledonia lend support

China and Russia signed the biggest gas deal to date but prices both in Europe and the US continue to trade on the weak side. In Europe the ICE UK Natural Gas futures touched a six-month low while US inventories rose more than forecast. Following the very cold winter gas stockpiles are still more than 40 percent below the five year average for this time of year and a strong price is needed over the coming months to incentivize producers to keep production levels high and also to encourage power plants to switch from gas to coal.

Precious metals continue to bounce between support and resistance. The only good news is that the current range can hardly become much narrower and a break-out is now on the horizon. The big question and the reason why we are stuck is the uncertainty about where to go next and to determine what themes should be the overall driver for this sector at the moment.

The platinum group metals (PGM’s) of platinum and palladium continue their strong performance as supply concerns related to the mining strike South Africa and the potential for increased sanctions against Russia lends support. Palladium jumped to a 33-month high while platinum rose to the highest since last September. So while consumers begin to worry about the availability of supply over the coming month’s investment holdings in exchange traded funds backed by platinum and palladium have both climbed to a new record.

The price of key crops, such as corn and wheat on one side and soybeans on the other went their separate ways with the cost of new crop soybeans future rising strongly. Relentless demand for US soybeans, both from domestic processors and exporters, is leaving current inventories at precarious low levels. This is leaving little room for disappointment during the coming planting season as a record soybean harvest is required to rebuild inventories for the 2014/15 season. As a result of the rally in soybeans the relative price over corn is trading at the most expensive for this time of year in at least ten years this could influence farmers’ planting decisions this spring in favour of soybeans. This could ultimately lend support to corn which has struggled to find support during the past couple of weeks, not least due to the fact that hedge funds are still holding an elevated net-long position.

Pick of the day:

Soybeans: New crop in the process of establishing a new higher range above 12.5 usd/bushel. Resistance at 13 USD/bushel from last June.

Precious metals: talk about golds ping pong between support and resistance. 1315 / 1284 needs to be cleared before any pick-up can be seen. Silver stuck in a range between 20 and 19.30. Palladium and platinum the best performers.

WTI Crude: third weekly gain. Seasonal pickup in demand under way as US inventories drop the most in four years on a combination of reduced imports and rising refinery demand. Ukraine and Libyan crisis also lending support.".