Gold moves higher on geopolitical tension, takes Yellen in stride - Sean Seshadri

Gold prices rose in European trade on Tuesday as rising political tension over North Korea and Syria supported demand for the safe-haven metal.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for June delivery gained 0.39% to $1.258.85 a troy ounce.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is currently at the G7 Foreign Affair Ministers meeting in Italy where political leaders are working to produce a cohesive message on Syria.

The U.S. had been working to rally international support for its revised stance on Syria ahead of the American Secretary of State's first diplomatic trip to Moscow.

However, the Kremlin announced Monday that Tillerson and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not meet in what could be a sign of increased tensions.

Markets also focused eyes on Asia as North Korea warned Tuesday of “catastrophic consequences” in response to any further provocations by the U.S., days after a U.S. Navy battle group was sent to waters off the Korean peninsula.

Stateside, remarks Monday from Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Janet Yellen provided little effect on the precious metal as she repeated her outlook that the central bank would raise U.S. interest rates gradually with an aim to sustaining full employment and near-2% inflation without letting the economy overheat.

"Whereas before we had our foot pressed down on the gas pedal trying to give the economy all the oomph we possibly could, now allowing the economy to kind of coast and remain on an even keel -- to give it some gas but not so much that we are pressing down hard on the accelerator -- that’s a better stance of monetary policy," she said.

"We want to be ahead of the curve and not behind it," Yellen explained.

Elsewhere in metals trading, silver was up 0.13% at $17.938 a troy ounce.

Platinum rose 0.70% at $946.60 a troy ounce, while palladium gained 0.30% to $792.35 a troy ounce. Copper inched up 0.08% to $2.606 a pound.

Oil struggles to continue rally ahead of inventories - Sean Seshadri

Oil prices underwent choppy trade on Tuesday as black gold struggled to maintain a nearly week-long rally that have pushed prices up around 5% as markets looked ahead to data on U.S. crude stockpiles.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude May contract was last at $53.09 by 9:22AM ET (13:22GMT), up 0.02%, or $0.01, after rising to $53.23 earlier in the session. The NYMEX barrel has pocketed gains of 5.4% since its last down day on April 3 when it closed at $50.24.

Elsewhere, Brent oil for June delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London slipped on 5 cents to $55.93 a barrel after hitting an intraday high at $56.16. The global benchmark has risen nearly 6% so far in April.

Bullish investors have been betting that the production cuts that major oil producers have already agreed to are not only effective, but could be extended beyond the current June cutoff.

Russia oil minister Alexander Novak said that his country’s oil output would be cut by 250,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) by mid-April and that Moscow will begin talking to Russian oil producers about the possibility of extending the production cut in agreement with OPEC, according to the TASS news agency.

Saudi Arabia also decreased production to 9.9 million bdp in March from the 10 million reported the prior month, according to Bloomberg, adding that the direct reporting numbers also revealed that Nigeria had reduced production to 1.27 million bpd from 1.43 million and Venezuela had cut to 2.235 million from 2.248 million. However, Qatar had increased production to 621,000 bpd in March from the prior 545,000, according to the news agency.

Meanwhile, Libya’s output was reported to drop to 490,000 bpd as production at its biggest oil field was halted.

OPEC agreed in November last year to curb its output by about 1.2 million barrels per day between January and June. Russia and 10 other non-OPEC producers have agreed to jointly cut by an additional 600,000 barrels per day.

In total, they agreed to reduce output by 1.8 million barrels per day to 32.5 million for the first six months of the year.

A joint committee of ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers will meet in late April to present its recommendation on the fate of the pact. A final decision on whether or not to extend the deal beyond June will be taken by the oil cartel on May 25.

In the meantime, investors were keeping an eye on U.S. drilling activity that has been steadily increasing even as other major oil producers reduce production in an attempt to reduce the global supply glut and push prices higher.

Late Friday, data from oil services provider Baker Hughes showed that the number of active rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by 10 to 672. That was the 12th straight weekly increase to the highest number since August 2015.

Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to the American Petroleum Institute’s weekly report on crude inventories at 4:30PM ET (20:30GMT) Tuesday.

Official government figures will be released on Wednesday amid expectations for a build of 0.316 million barrels.

Oil struggles to continue rally ahead of inventories - Sean Seshadri

Oil prices underwent choppy trade on Tuesday as black gold struggled to maintain a nearly week-long rally that have pushed prices up around 5% as markets looked ahead to data on U.S. crude stockpiles.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude May contract was last at $53.09 by 9:22AM ET (13:22GMT), up 0.02%, or $0.01, after rising to $53.23 earlier in the session. The NYMEX barrel has pocketed gains of 5.4% since its last down day on April 3 when it closed at $50.24.

Elsewhere, Brent oil for June delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London slipped on 5 cents to $55.93 a barrel after hitting an intraday high at $56.16. The global benchmark has risen nearly 6% so far in April.

Bullish investors have been betting that the production cuts that major oil producers have already agreed to are not only effective, but could be extended beyond the current June cutoff.

Russia oil minister Alexander Novak said that his country’s oil output would be cut by 250,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) by mid-April and that Moscow will begin talking to Russian oil producers about the possibility of extending the production cut in agreement with OPEC, according to the TASS news agency.

Saudi Arabia also decreased production to 9.9 million bdp in March from the 10 million reported the prior month, according to Bloomberg, adding that the direct reporting numbers also revealed that Nigeria had reduced production to 1.27 million bpd from 1.43 million and Venezuela had cut to 2.235 million from 2.248 million. However, Qatar had increased production to 621,000 bpd in March from the prior 545,000, according to the news agency.

Meanwhile, Libya’s output was reported to drop to 490,000 bpd as production at its biggest oil field was halted.

OPEC agreed in November last year to curb its output by about 1.2 million barrels per day between January and June. Russia and 10 other non-OPEC producers have agreed to jointly cut by an additional 600,000 barrels per day.

In total, they agreed to reduce output by 1.8 million barrels per day to 32.5 million for the first six months of the year.

A joint committee of ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers will meet in late April to present its recommendation on the fate of the pact. A final decision on whether or not to extend the deal beyond June will be taken by the oil cartel on May 25.

In the meantime, investors were keeping an eye on U.S. drilling activity that has been steadily increasing even as other major oil producers reduce production in an attempt to reduce the global supply glut and push prices higher.

Late Friday, data from oil services provider Baker Hughes showed that the number of active rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by 10 to 672. That was the 12th straight weekly increase to the highest number since August 2015.

Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to the American Petroleum Institute’s weekly report on crude inventories at 4:30PM ET (20:30GMT) Tuesday.

Official government figures will be released on Wednesday amid expectations for a build of 0.316 million barrels.

Oil prices rise but increasing U.S. output tempers gains - Sean Seshadri

Oil prices rose on Monday, approaching the prior sessions’ one-month highs amid concerns over mounting geopolitical risk, but industry data pointing to another increase in U.S. output capped gains.

Global benchmark Brent futures rose 39 cents or 0.69% to $55.61 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

U.S. crude oil was trading at $52.55 a barrel at 07.53 GMT, up 32 cents or 0.63% from its last close.

Oil prices hit one-month highs Friday as U.S. cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base raised concerns that conflict in the oil-producing region could spread.

Both U.S. crude and Brent rose more than 3% last week, notching up a second straight weekly increase.

But gains were held in check as oil traders continued to focus on the ongoing rebound in U.S. shale production, which could derail efforts by other major producers to reduce a global supply glut.

Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes said late Friday that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose again last week to the highest since September 2015.

Market participants, however, remained optimistic that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would extend its current deal with non-OPEC producers to cut output beyond June in an effort to rebalance the market.

A joint committee of ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC producers will meet in late April to present its recommendation on the fate of the pact. A final decision on whether or not to extend the deal beyond June will be taken by the oil cartel on May 25.

Oil prices fall on bloated U.S. market, but other regions tighten - Sean Seshadri

Oil prices fell on Thursday as record U.S. crude inventories underscored that markets remain bloated, although traders said there were signs that other regions were gradually tightening.

Brent crude futures were at $54.09 per barrel at 0530 GMT, down 27 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $50.89 a barrel.

Traders said the declines were due to rising U.S. crude production that bolstered inventories to record levels.

U.S. fuel inventories and oil production levels are key to whether the United States remains the world's biggest oil importer, helping to support prices, or if soaring output and large stocks cut imports, which would weigh on oil markets.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an increase of 1.57 million barrels in crude inventories late on Wednesday, bringing total U.S. stocks to a record of 535.5 million barrels.

"Overnight crude inventory numbers pulled the rug out from under the feet of the oil rally," said Jeffrey Halley, senior analyst at futures brokerage OANDA.

The record crude inventories came as U.S. oil production rose 52,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.2 million bpd, a more than 9 percent increase since mid-2016 to levels last seen at the start of the market slump in late 2014 and early 2015.

Within the U.S. crude inventories, stocks at Cushing, the delivery hub for WTI, rose 1.4 million barrels to a record 69.1 million barrels. Rising stocks at Cushing, in Oklahoma, typically tend to depress the price of the U.S. benchmark.

Cushing crude tank farms have a total storage capacity of 77 million barrels, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Because of the glut, U.S. crude exports have soared to a record 1.1 million bpd, with most cargoes going to Asia, where traders say there are early signs of a tightening market due to efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output in an effort to prop up prices.

"The global picture is more important (than just the U.S.) and stocks are being drawn," said Oystein Berentsen, managing director at oil trading company Strong Petroleum in Singapore.

In the short-term, he said, a lot of oil was being sold out of storage around the world, adding to the imminent glut.

But Berentsen warned that once a significant amount of crude had been sold out of inventories, "then you get the full effect (of tighter supplies)."