Title: Commodity prices collapse to lowest in 12 years
Headings: Commodity prices collapse to lowest in 12 years
Commodity prices collapse to lowest in 12 years
Bloomberg Commodity index reaches lowest level since August 2002

Content: Commodity prices collapse to lowest in 12 years
Commodity prices collapse to lowest in 12 years
The Bloomberg Commodity index, which tracks the global prices of 22 different commodities such as gold and oil, collapses to lowest level since August 2002
By John Ficenec 29 January 2015 • 10:31am
Commodity prices have weakened as the US comes closer to tightening monetary policy and Chinese growth slows Credit: Photo: ALAMY
The world's leading index of commodity prices has slumped to its lowest level in more than 12 years as China slows and America hints at tightening monetary policy. The Bloomberg Commodity index, which tracks the prices of 22 different commodity prices such as gold, natural gas and oil, fell 0.3pc to 99.84 in early trading, the lowest point since August 2002. The recent bout of weakness in commodity prices came as the US Federal Reserve issued an upbeat view on the state of US economy. Bloomberg Commodity index reaches lowest level since August 2002
Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's December meeting said the US economy is expanding at a solid rate with strong job gains, a signal that the central bank remains on track with plans to raise interest rates. Commodities, like all asset classes, have benefited from America's loose monetary policy. The upbeat view from the US economy came after another sign of a slowdown in China, with official figures showing profits from the industrial sector fell 8pc in December from a year earlier. Last year, China’s annual economic growth slowed to 7.4pc—its slowest pace in nearly a quarter of a century —as the property crisis in the country holds back the economy, and there is rising debt and slower demand for its products at home and abroad. Most economists expect Beijing to set an annual-growth target for 2015 of 7pc.