Crude Oil
Crude oil futures gave back some of the previous sessions strong gains on Friday, as investors reassessed the geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East. Crude oil futures - weekly outlook: July 21 - 25 Crude oil futures end the week higher with geopolitical worries in focus Data from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission released Friday showed that hedge funds and money managers decreased their bullish bets in New York-traded oil futures in the week ending July 15. Net longs totaled 259,259 contracts as of last week, down 14.8% from net longs of 304,366 in the preceding week. Oil spiked on Thursday following the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine, with the U.S. blaming pro-Russian separatists for the act.
Gold
Gold futures declined on Friday, one day after rallying more than 1% on the back of mounting geopolitical concerns. Gold spiked more than 1% on Thursday following the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine, with the U.S. blaming pro-Russian separatists for shooting down the aircraft, killing 298 aboard. Moscow has denied involvement in the crash, which came a day after the U.S. announced a fresh round of sanctions against Russia for supporting separatists in east Ukraine. Markets were also unsettled as Israel expanded its ground offensive in Gaza. Gold is often seen as a haven investment in times of geopolitical uncertainty. Despite Thursday’s strong gains, Comex gold declined 0.9%, or $11.90 an ounce, on the week after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicated that interest rates may rise sooner if the economy continues to improve.
