Metals prices cool as crude oil rises

The price of crude oil was higher on Wednesday after new data on US inventories from the Energy Information Administration.

Brent crude for September delivery was up 65 cents to $75.73 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange in London, while September contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were up $2.34 to $75.90 per barrel at close to 2:30 pm local time on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

At the same time, Nymex August gasoline had added 4 cents to $2.09 per gallon, while Nymex September heating oil had also risen 4 cents to trade at $2.08 per gallon and September natural gas was 12 cents higher to $6.07 per million British thermal units.

The EIA said that crude oil stockpiles were down by 1.1 million barrels in the week ending July 20, about what analysts expected, but gasoline inventories grew by 800,000 barrels during the week and distillates supplies were up by 1.5 million barrels, both much bigger gains that had been anticipated.

Metals prices, on the other hand, were lower.

August gold was $11 lower in early afternoon trade in New York as it dropped to $673.80 after the US dollar gained 0.9 percent on the euro.

Meanwhile, silver fell 29 cents to $13.15 in New York for its biggest percentage decline since June 26, while October platinum dropped $2.70 to trade at $1,330.90.

Among base metals, copper dropped 2.2 percent to $7,780 per tonne in London even though London Metal Exchange inventories were 2,100 tonnes lower on the day.

September copper in New York fell 6 cents to $3.56 per pound on the continuing slump in the housing market, which hurts copper prices because less copper will be used in pipes and wiring when fewer houses are being built.

In other base metals, zinc and nickel each dropped 2.5 percent in London to trade at $3,640 per tonne and $31,400 per tonne respectively, while lead was 3.8 percent lower to $3,175 per tonne.

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