At the end of the trading session on March 17, silver price turned down slightly by 0.33% to 34.07 USD/ounce.
According to the Vietnam Commodity Exchange (MXV), the world raw material market was covered in green in yesterday's trading session (March 17). At the close, overwhelming buying pressure helped the MXV-Index increase by more than 0.5% to 2,296 points - the highest level since late February 2025. Cautious sentiment continued in the metal market when the FED decided on interest rates. In addition, in the agricultural market, soybean prices fluctuated due to the mixed impact of negative fundamental factors and technical recovery at the end of the session.
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| MXV-Index |
Green and red colors intertwine in the metal market
The first trading session of the week saw a divergence between precious metals and base metals, as the market awaited the US interest rate decision this week. In addition, supply and demand concerns continued to put pressure on base metal prices.
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| Metal price list |
At the end of the trading session on March 17, silver prices fell slightly by 0.33% to $34.07/ounce. Meanwhile, platinum continued to increase by 1.31% to $1,026/ounce.
Among the base metals, COMEX copper extended its gains by 1.29% to $4.96 a pound, or $10,932 a tonne, its highest in nearly 10 months. Iron ore, on the other hand, fell 1.87% to $102.04 a tonne.
Markets are now focused on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting this Thursday, with expectations that the agency will keep interest rates unchanged until June. The high interest rate environment is expected to continue to support the strength of the US dollar, as money flows into bonds to take advantage of attractive yields. This reduces the appeal of non-interest-bearing assets such as precious metals, putting pressure on silver and platinum prices.
Meanwhile, newly released data showed that US retail sales recovered more slowly than expected in February, reflecting modest economic growth. This development took place in the context of President Donald Trump's administration's strict import tax policy, raising concerns about rising costs and prices. The weak economic outlook in the US has stimulated demand for shelter, partly helping to limit the decline in precious metals in the last trading session.
In other news, copper prices rose to their highest since late May 2024 as the market anticipated that the imposition of tariffs on imported copper by the United States could lead to a severe shortage in the country’s supply. The move triggered a wave of speculative buying amid concerns about copper supply.
Meanwhile, iron ore prices in the last trading session were under pressure from weak demand in China's real estate and construction markets. The country's crude steel output in the first two months of the year fell 1.5% compared to the same period in 2024, reflecting a decline in consumption of input materials, including iron ore.
Despite Beijing’s stimulus measures, new home prices in China continued to fall in February, while new construction starts fell sharply by 29.6%. Weak demand is believed to be insufficient to absorb excess supply, creating the risk of hot pig iron inventories rising in the coming weeks, further pressuring iron ore prices.
Soybean prices fluctuate
Soybean prices traded sideways yesterday and ended with little change at around $373/ton. The market showed a clear two-way trend as the May futures contract fell slightly, while the November new crop contract rose slightly. This sideways movement was explained by the conflicting effects of negative fundamentals and technical recovery at the end of the session.
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| Agricultural product price list |
On the downside, the session was dominated by negative news as weekly soybean export inspections came in at just under 647,000 tonnes, down sharply from over 853,000 tonnes the previous week and over 700,000 tonnes a year ago. This reflected a decline in export demand, putting pressure on soybean prices. In addition, the National Oilseed Crushers Association (NOPA) February crushing report also had a negative impact as crushing output came in at just 4.84 million tonnes, well below the market average forecast of 185.2 million bushels and down sharply from 5.45 million tonnes the previous month. The average daily crushing rate also fell to a five-month low of 173,800 tonnes per day, indicating weaker-than-expected domestic demand.
News from Brazil is also adding to the pressure on soybean prices as the 2024-25 harvest in the country has reached around 66-70% completion, up from 62-63% completion at the same time last year. This is the fastest harvest pace in March since AgRural began tracking the data in 2010-2011. Harvesting in northern and northeastern Brazil is accelerating, making up for a slow start. However, hot and dry weather is reducing yields in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. Brazil’s rapid harvest means that global supplies will be replenished, putting further downward pressure on international markets, especially in the United States.
However, soybean prices bottomed out just before the data was released and then recovered in the second half of the session, suggesting that the market had somewhat priced in the negative news and technical buying pressure helped prices recover.
Source: https://congthuong.vn/gia-bac-quay-dau-giam-nhe-con-3407-usdounce-378742.html
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