Precious metals prices higher on session

Metals prices were higher on Friday but ended the week lower on gains that came a day after commodities saw their steepest one-day decline in half a century.

Among precious metals, December gold closed $8.80 higher to $666.80 per troy ounce in New York, September silver added 31 cents to $11.80 per troy ounce and October platinum was up $1.60 to $1,231.60 per troy ounce while earlier in the day palladium had added $7.60 to trade at $335.45.

Among base metals, December copper added 6 cents to $3.15 per pound in New York, while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell $270 to $7,101 per tonne, a decline of 6.1 percent on the week.

Aluminium was down 3.9 percent on the week to $2,497 per tonne, while tin dropped 14.2 percent over the past five sessions to trade at $13,550.

Crude oil prices were also higher on Friday as investors continued to worry about the effect that Hurricane Dean, now at Category 3 and predicted to have the potential to strengthen to Category 5, might have on oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico next week.

Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NSYE: RDS.A, RDS.B) has reportedly closed two of its wells that might be in Dean’s path in the Gulf and evacuated workers.

September contracts for Brent crude was up 52 cents to $70.29 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange in London, while West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was 90 cents higher to $71.90 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Nymex Septebmer gasoline added 6 cents to $2.04 per gallon and October heating oil gained 4 cents to $2.04 per gallon, while October natural gas was 13 cents higher to $7.14 per million British thermal units.

Among agricultural commodities, December wheat dropped 8 cents to $6.795 per bushel in late morning trade on the Chicago Board of Trade, the third day of declines in a row on fears that livestock producers will begin to feed their stock cheaper grains.

In addition, consumption is expected to drop below production this year for the seventh year in the past eight years.

Raw sugar added 0.31 cent, or 3.4 percent, to 9.4 cents per pound on the New York Board of Trade after falling 4.7 percent in the past four session, while refined sugar added as much as 4.1 percent on the day in London trade.

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