Commodities Daily - March 18, 2019

> Oil pares losses after dipping on IEA report; OPEC+ JMMC Baku meeting on the radar. This morning, the focus in the oil market has been on comments from Baku, where the OPEC+ JMMC meeting is currently underway. The most important remarks, in our view, have come from the Saudi energy minister, who said that Saudi Arabia was not under any pressure from the US and that there was a need for OPEC and its partners to reconsider if there is a need for an OPEC meeting in April, as that would be too early to make a decision on whether to extend cuts. We see this comment as slightly bullish, as some investors remain concerned over Trump's possible influence. The Saudi minister also noted that there was potential for a decision to extend cuts to be made in June. Aside from this meeting, today's calendar is light. We think Brent is likely to trade sideways in its current $67-68/bbl range.> Gold trading above $1,300/oz amid a weaker dollar. Gains in stocks on Friday led to somewhat decreased interest in gold. However, recent US macro data points to the strong likelihood that the Fed will stick to soft rhetoric on Wednesday, which should support gold prices. We think gold could well move higher toward the $1,320-1,325/oz area in the coming days, while today we expect it to test $1,310/oz. > Base metals trading mixed, with zinc the laggard. This morning, copper (+ 0.7%) and aluminum (+0.1%) were up slightly, while zinc (-0.3%) remained under pressure amid rising inventories in Asia and weak production data from China. A meeting between US President Trump and Chinese President Xi has been rescheduled for a later date.