ZEPROG!

Metals and crop markets jumped up in recent contracts for difference trading activity, driving commodities to their biggest weekly advance since December.

Encouraging US retail sales in September boosted risk appetites across financial markets and added to investor confidence, already bolstered by an imminent European debt rescue deal.

Gold posted its biggest weekly gain in six weeks, as optimism about European plans to contain the region’s debt crisis and a dollar drop lifted bullion with riskier assets in a broad rally.

Bullion tracked US stocks and industrial commodities such as copper and oil higher, as French and German officials were trying to finalise a crisis resolution plan at a G20 meeting in Paris (you can speculate on the price of gold bullion to move up and/or down with IG Markets).

Also supporting was news that China’s inflation dipped, easing worries of further tightening. Optimism over plans to tackle the debilitating eurozone debt crisis, as well as strong US retail sales and corporate earnings, helped prompt the traditionally safe-haven metal to move in tandem with equities. The metal rose 2.5 percent.

Soybeans benefited from spill over bullish impact from a set US government crop figures that pegged this year’s crop and the ending supply of soy for the current marketing year that ends on August 31 2012, below analysts’ estimates.

Elsewhere in the financial markets, gas prices rose more than 6 percent on short covering prompted by forecasts for cooler weather in consuming regions. It reversed losses that sent the front-month contract to its lowest in nearly a year.

Government data showed a much larger-than-expected build to inventories, pressuring the contract, but traders said longer-term forecasts calling for below-normal temperatures for much of the country helped boost prices.

The US Energy Information Administration said domestic gas inventories rose 112 billion cubic feet to 3.521 trillion cubic feet.

Contracts for Difference trading does involve a high degree of risk and you can lose more than your stake. Please ensure that Contracts for Difference trading fits your trading needs as it may not be appropriate for all classes of investor. Make sure that you familiarise yourself with the risks that are involved. Always ensure that you only trade Contracts for Difference with funds you can afford to lose. Request independent financial advice if appropriate.