India’s wholesale price index rose 7.82% for in the week ended May 10, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry reported. It marked the 13th straight week that the inflation rate has been above the central bank’s 5.5% target, highlighting the increased pressures many developing nations are under given soaring commodities prices.

Although it’s tempting to describe sky-high commodities prices as being the latest ‘bubble’ to hit the markets, for commodities such as crude oil and corn, basic supply and demand may be pushing up prices. This from The Wall Street Journal:

Prices, to be sure, are soaring — crude oil fetched $132.19 a barrel in New York on Friday, up 103% from $64.97 a year earlier. Yet crude has posted similarly massive increases a number of times in the past three decades. Most notably, in the spring of 1980, as gasoline lines lengthened, the price of crude oil was 150% above the year-before level.

The yield on the Brazilian government’s zero-coupon bond due January 2010 was little changed at 14.32 percent, according to a report on Bloomberg.

More from this story:

Brazil’s interest-rate future yields rose after Banco Itau Holding Financeira SA, the country’s second-biggest non-government bank, boosted its forecast for central bank interest-rate increases.

Emerging markets investments are soaring on the back of the ongoing global commodities boom. This morning in New York, MSCI’s benchmark Emerging Markets Index (MSCI EM) reached a fresh 2008 record of 1246.85, close to 8% below its all-time high last November.

Speaking to Thomson Reuters, Matthias Siller, an emerging markets investment strategist at Baring Asset Management said, “You can make a strong case that emerging markets are well-placed in any scenario going forward – many of them are enjoying a commodities boom and many of their companies are ridiculously cheap at current valuations.”

“As long as we’re seeing strong commodity prices, the implication is that the emerging markets are still growing. The supply constraints in commodities are here for at least…

Wheat prices may be set for a major spike after a UN warning that a new “highly pathogenic strain of wheat stem rust called Ug99″ threatens 25% of the world’s wheat crops.

This from The World Tribune:

Scientists and international organizations focused on controlling wheat stem rust have said 90 percent of world wheat lines are susceptible to Ug99. The situation is particularly critical in light of the existing worldwide wheat shortage.

As times change, so do trends. In the old days, the louder and more powerful your car, the better. Now, green is the name of the game and everyone wants to drive super quiet, efficient hybrids.