Hot Commodity Markets Are Dogging Inflation-Wary Central Banks

  • Gold, copper are up this year as oil gains on Mideast tensions
  • Manufacturers will seek to pass high costs to consumers: CIBC
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A new commodities boom is complicating central bankers’ anti-inflation efforts and may help derail prospects for significant interest-rate cuts any time soon.

Even before Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend stoked fears of a wider regional war and disruption to oil supplies, crude had already risen significantly this year. That advance, together with a renewed exuberance in markets for precious metals and other raw materials, has pushed the Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index to an almost seven-month high.