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GOLD

On Tuesday, spot gold ended on a higher note, up 0.60 percent to end at 1852$ per ounce.

The uptick in gold came as the World Bank lowered its global growth prediction for 2022 by nearly a third, to 2.9 percent, saying that Russia's invasion of Ukraine had worsened the damage caused by the COVID-19 epidemic and that many countries were now facing recession.

U.S. Treasury Secretary, Yellen told senators that inflation expectations would stay high and that the Biden administration will likely raise the 4.7 percent inflation projection for this year.

The yellow metal is seen as a safe haven in times of political and economic uncertainty, as well as the best hedge against inflation. The opportunity cost of keeping gold, which pays no interest, rises when short-term interest rates rise.

Outlook: Gold prices are expected to remain under pressure on the back of anticipation of a 50-basis point rate hike in the upcoming meetings.

CRUDE

The weakness in the previous session seem to vanish as crude prices witnessed a bounce back as Brent crude ended higher by 1.57 percent while NYMEX crude was up 0.77 percent. As leading cities reduce COVID-19 limitations, Oil prices edged up on Tuesday ahead of data on U.S. oil inventories, with tight crude supplies and recovering fuel demand in China,

As a result of Western sanctions, global crude and oil product supplies remain tight, hampering shipments from Russia, one of the world's largest producers. Most refineries globally are already running at close to their maximum capacities to meet rising demand from pandemic recovery and replace lost Russian supplies.

If state-brokered wage mediation fails, more than one out of every 10 Norwegian offshore oil and gas workers will go on strike starting Sunday. A walkout by 845 of Norway's about 7,500 offshore oil and gas production workers would impair just a small portion of oil production, while gas supplies would be unaffected initially.

Norway is the largest petroleum producer in Western Europe, producing over four million barrels of oil equivalent per day, split nearly evenly between oil and natural gas.

Outlook: Crude prices are expected to continue to trade higher as demand increases after China's lockdown restrictions are lifted and commercial operations seem to recover. The EU's ban on Russian petroleum supports crude prices, as it raises concerns about a tighter supply market.

BASE METALS

The base metals pack ended on a negative note, as Zinc was the top losing metal for the day. Even if there are some uncertainties about how quickly and effectively China's stimulus measures will work, important commodities such as iron ore, steel, and copper are already seeing price increases.

The gains have much to do with a slew of stimulus measures announced by Beijing as it works to stimulate the world's second-biggest economy, which has stuttered in recent months amid a series of lockdowns in major cities as part of the zero-COVID strategy.

The improvements are largely due to Beijing's announcement of a plethora of stimulus measures aimed at boosting the world's second-largest economy, which has slowed in recent months due to a series of lockdowns in major cities as part of the zero-COVID plan.

Outlook: The Fed's interest rate hike will act as a major headwind for the base metals in the near term.

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