Daily Market Price Updates and Commentary 12th February 2025

An inauspicious opening saw May’25 trading either side of unchanged and despite the positive movement seen yesterday the market was floundering somewhat through the early part of the session with the price dipping to 18.15 by the middle of the morning. This disappointing showing was quickly forgotten however as buying returned to set the market chasing back to the opening highs, with these easily broken as buyers chased further through the limited selling and took May’25 up to a new high for the year at 18.53. The rest of the board was also showing strongly, although March’25 was lagging a little behind as the weight of selling from the index roll knocked the March/May’25 spread back down to the 1.50-point area. The continuing fickle nature of the market then saw values turn back into the range as the early afternoon failed to draw out any additional buying from the Americas, and a quiet afternoon ensued tracking along sideways. The spread came under additional pressure against another solid volume with new lows steadily registered through the afternoon, culminating in trades at 1.39 points on the close. This left March’25 in the red with the rest of the board showing modest gains that saw May’25 settle at 18.34, still steady despite the unconvincing afternoon showing.

The whites quickly moved from initial lower prints to be trading higher, ignoring the indications from No.11 and stretching the white premium values. The movement was led by March/May’25 with the spread value flying up through $25 ahead of tomorrows expiry and maintaining modest gains for most positions as the March’25 contract flew ahead. May/May’25 was trading beyond $115.00 before settling down, and remained firm as the middle of the morning saw a flat price surge take the price to $523.40, its highest value since mid-December. A lack of continuation buying encouraged some profit taking and with the early afternoon failing to garner any additional interest the market started to appear a little lost with prices slipping back to track sideways within the range. There was the usual smattering of small trader jobbing as the price sat in the upper teens, with the focus of any movement remaining with March/May’25 which by now had surged to a new high at $30.00. Resting orders for the spread are few and far between and so the value became increasingly volatile through the latter part of the afternoon, retreating to $19.00 on the post close having settled at $26.90. Outright positions maintained steady gains with May’25 closing at $518.40 and the May/May’25 premium at $114.00, continuing the recent positive sentiment into tomorrow.