Metals

Saudi Arabia does not intend to change its oil policy. Assures the new Minister of Energy, Industry and Mining Resources, Khaled al-Faleh, who took over from veteran Ali al-Naimi said Riyadh and "strengthen its more reliable energy supplier position world". Analysts at the time, waiting for the reaction of the markets.

In office since 1995, the former minister has been replaced by the Minister of Health and Chairman of the Aramco oil giant, al-Falih: the shift goal of such an important minister in the Arab country is to improve the fortunes of the economy hit hard by the collapse in oil prices.

ArcelorMittal, the first global steel producer, has closed the first quarter of 2016 improved, with net losses of $ 416 million (364.3 million euro) compared with 728 million the same period last year. The company has however confirmed that foresees further improvements on the side of profits, with EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), which for 2016 to exceed $ 4.5 billion (3.94 billion euro).

Meeting at Palazzo Chigi between the Government and representatives of the metalworkers’ unions to take stock of the Alcoa dispute.

The Government has announced that within two weeks we will know the intentions of Glencore, the Swiss multinational in talks to detect the aluminum plant of the US group which is located in Sardinia.

The Spanish oil company Repsol reported a decline in net profit in the first quarter by 43 percent to 434 million euro, compared with 761 million euro in the same quarter of the previous year. Adjusted net income in the quarter was 572 million euro, compared to the same period a year ago. The Bloomberg consensus was for just 261 million. Respol had closed 0.37% decline in the Wednesday session in Madrid.
Last month it cut its proposed dividend to € 0.30 per share, from an originally proposed € 0.50.

Crude oil prices marks a surge in European trade on Thursday, as a result of a fire that broke out in Canada that has stopped production of the raw material in the country.
A huge fire, which forced 88,000 people to leave the city of Fort McMurray, in the western part of the country, is threatening the airport and the countries south of the city, as reported yesterday by the authorities.

Bearish traders attempted to prolong a correction as lower as possible yesterday, but they met a tough support in face of the weekly pivot point at 1,272.92. Considering that this demand is reinforced by the monthly pivot $20 from below, gold’s bears decided not to take additional risks. The bullion’s spot closed just under the 1,280 mark. Both daily and weekly aggregate technical indicators are pointing to a recovery, as there are no single signals to sell the metal. In the wake of these events, the bulls keep eyeing the 2015 peak at 1,307.06

The collapse in oil prices affect in a decisive manner on Royal Dutch Shell accounts. The Anglo-Dutch giant has closed the first quarter with a net profit of 421 million euro, a 89% decrease compared to 4.43 billion dollars in the same period of 2015. Without considering depreciation and exceptional costs, net profit amounted to $ 1.55 billion, -58%. The company also announced that it has reduced to 30 billion dollars from 33 previously expected, the investments planned in 2016.

Crude retraces from highs in 2016 in the wake of increased production in the Middle East, which overshadows the output decline US and a falling dollar.

OPEC crude oil production in April rose to 32.64 million barrels per day, close to the highest levels seen in recent history. Even Russia, the largest exporter outside the organization, has increased the monthly export.