Precious metals, oil prices lower

Prices for precious metals were much lower on Thursday. June gold was down $15.50 in early afternoon trade in New York to $667 per troy ounce, having traded in a range between $665.80 and $679.50 during the session so far.

July silver dropped 33 cents to $13.14 per troy ounce after it traded between $13.12 and $13.41 before noon. Platinum July contracts fell $15.30 to $15.30 per troy ounce. It had traded in a range between $1,322 to $1.336.80 earlier.

Among base metals, copper was 11 cents cheaper to $3.57 per pound after trading in a range between $3.56 and $3.63 per pound.

In energy news, the price of June contracts for natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 2 cents to $7.86 per million British thermal units in early afternoon trade. The decline came after new data showing that US natural gas storage was up by 96 billion cubic feet in the week ending May 4. This increase took inventories to 1.75 trillion cubic feet, 20 percent above the 5-year average.

Elsewhere, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery dropped 10 cents to $61.45 per barrel in Nymex trade. June Nymex gasoline, however, added 8 cents to $2.32 per gallon, while June Nymex heating oil gained 5 cents to $1.86 per gallon.

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