Oil lower on profit-taking

The price of crude oil fell on Monday on profit-taking by hedge funds, while at least one analyst predicted that taking of profits could trigger a sharp decline in oil prices.

September contracts for Brent crude were $1 lower on the Intercontinental Exchange to trade at $76.64 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery had dropped $1.19 to $74.60 in early afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

At the same time, Nymex August gasoline was down 5 cents to $2.11 per gallon, while September heating oil had fallen 4 cents to $2.08 per gallon and September natural gas dropped 42 cents in afternoon trade to $6.10 per million British thermal units.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Global Energy Studies urged the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies to increase their production quotas when its ministers meet in Vienna in September.

Prices on precious metals were lower, with August gold trading at $681.50 per troy ounce in early afternoon trade in New York, a decline of $3.20.

Meanwhile, September silver was 7 cents lower to $13.33 per troy ounce and October platinum had dropped $4.70 to trade at $1,341.90 per troy ounce.

Base metals prices also fell, with copper dropping on the belief that the recent rally may have been too exuberant.

The price of copper in London dropped 0.8 percent to $8,035 per tonne, while in New York September copper dropped 5 cents to $3.66 per pound.

Copper has gone up 8.1 percent in the past month on supply concerns, but London Metal Exchange inventories were up by 2,725 tonnes on the day for the biggest one-day percentage rise in a month.

Lead dropped 0.3 percent in London to $3,395 per tonne after going as high as a new record of $3,505 per tonne, while tin was 1 percent lower to $15,300 per tonne.

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