Commodities Daily - August 8, 2019

> Oil slides on global risk-off, bearish EIA report yesterday; dovish Fed comments and talk of Saudi intervention providing some support today. Today, investors will eye the ECB Economic Bulletin, US jobless claims and US wholesale inventories. Japanese GDP and Chinese inflation are due early tomorrow. We think that Brent is likely to continue trading within the $57-58/bbl range today, though there is strong risk to the upside, as top-level Saudi officials could confirm the rumors that the kingdom has reached out to partners to discuss oil market intervention.> Gold surpasses the psychologically important $1,500/oz mark. Weak German industrial production data and yuan volatility have fueled demand for gold. Today will see the ECB release its economic bulletin, US initial jobless claims and wholesale inventories. We see gold trading sideways at $1,490- $1,500/oz today, as long as there are no further statements around the China-US trade war.> Base metal prices begin to recover - nickel is ahead of the pack. Upbeat foreign trade data for July released from China this morning has buoyed base metal markets. Nickel has benefited from what looks like strong speculative buying, having climbed by $2,000/tonne (13%) in Asian trading so far today.