Metals prices down on data

September contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange were 93 cents lower to $74.95 per barrel in mid-afternoon trade on Thursday, while Brent crude was down $1.35 per barrel to $74.97 on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.

Nymex August gasoline was also lower, dropping 1 cent to $2.08 per gallon, while September heating oil fell 2 cents to $2.06 per gallon and September natural gas was down 1 cent to $6.05 per million British thermal units.

One analyst said that crude oil is overvalued by between $10 and $15 per barrel, noting that while inventories have been declining, they are still higher than last year at this time and above the five-year average.

Precious metals prices dropped in New York on Thursday in response to concerns that the US economy could be headed for a slowdown based on reports that new home sales and durable goods orders were both lower in June.

December gold dropped $11.40 to $675.10 per troy ounce in mid-afternoon trade, while September silver fell 20 cents to $12.95 per troy ounce and October platinum fell $2.80 to trade at $1,328.10 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, copper prices were lower in New York as the new data brought fears of diminished demand as supplies grew by 9.9 percent this week..

The price of copper was 3 cents lower to $3.52 per pound in mid-afternoon trade in New York, while London Metal Exchange three-month contracts for the metal dropped $13 to $7,765 per tonne.

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