RIYADH: Gold prices were little changed on Tuesday, as a pullback in the dollar supported demand for greenback-priced bullion and countered pressure from a recovery in US Treasury yields.
Spot gold was last up 0.1 percent at $1,825.29 per ounce, as of 2.18 a.m. GMT, while US gold futures gained 0.6 percent to $1,825.60.
Spot silver dropped 0.2 percent to $21.56 per ounce, while platinum was flat at $945.76.
Palladium fell 1.2 percent to $2,002.17.
Wheat up on supply worries
Chicago wheat futures on Tuesday neared a record peak set in March, after the US Department of Agriculture reported a worsening condition of the winter crop, deepening supply worries in an already-tight market.
The significance of US crops has risen after the Russian invasion of Ukraine hampered shipments from the key Black Sea region, and India unexpectedly closed its doors on wheat exports.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade rose as much as 2.2 percent to $12.75 a bushel, the highest since March 8, when it hit a record high of $13.64.
CBOT corn was down 0.5 percent at $8.05-1/4 a bushel as of 0204 GMT, after touching a two-week peak in the previous session.
CBOT soybeans were 0.1 percent higher at $16.58 a bushel.
London copper at near 1-week high
Prices of London copper, often used to gauge global economic health, rose to a nearly one-week high on Tuesday, as top metals consumer China’s decision to ease some COVID-19 restrictions fueled expectations of a recovery in demand.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.1 percent at $9,338 a ton, as of 0504 GMT, after hitting its highest since May 11 at $9,341.50.
The most-active June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.8 percent to $10,573.36 a ton by the midday break.
UN warns of ‘catastrophic’ child malnutrition due to price hikes, Ukraine war
The cost of life-saving treatment for the most severely malnourished children is set to jump by up to 16 percent, due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pandemic disruptions, according to the United Nations’ children’s agency.
The raw ingredients of the ready-to-eat-therapeutic food have leapt in price, amid the global food crisis sparked by the war and pandemic, UNICEF said.
Without further funding in the next six months, 600,000 more children may miss out on the essential treatment, which is a high-energy paste made of ingredients including peanuts, oil, sugar and added nutrients.
UNICEF did not specify how much increased spending would be needed to maintain the program. It said a carton of the specialized nutrition containing 150 packets — enough for 6 to 8 weeks to bring a severely malnourished child back to health — goes for about $41 on average.
Alongside the wider pressure on food security, including climate change, the price rise could lead to “catastrophic” levels of severe malnutrition, the children’s agency warned in a statement.
“The world is rapidly becoming a virtual tinderbox of preventable child deaths and child suffering from wasting,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
(With input from Reuters)
