COMMODITY WRAP Gold, Silver and Crude Rise on Iran Fears

Commodities like gold, silver and crude oil were impacted by the geo-political risk involving sanctions on Iran aimed to curb its nuclear programme and the continuing European sovereign debt risk. These factors have caused the three commodities to soar. Except for these main commodities, other commodities have logged mixed price movement. Among agri commodities, cotton, palm oil and soybean gained while wheat, rubber and soy oil dropped. Among the base metals, while tin and aluminium gained, copper, nickel and lead have dropped marginally.      SILVER  Precious metals posted the biggest gains among commodities in the first trading week of the year as investor appetite for gold and silver as safe havens started to rise again. Silver rose more than 5%, its biggest rise in over two months as eurozone worries resurfaced after the holiday break coupled with geopolitical concerns. After trading at a high of $35 per ounce in mid-2011, the price of silver corrected sharply to around $27 per ounce levels. Given its inverse relation with the US dollar, the price of silver is not expected to move up significantly from the current levels if the dollar remains firm.