Wheat gains on low storage, higher consumption

December wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade added 6 cents Friday to $9.39 per bushel at the close of trade on a report from the United States Department of Agriculture that wheat in storage is down 1.9 percent from this time last year and that the total harvest is 2.2 percent lower than estimates last month.

Meanwhile, wheat consumption in the June/July/August quarter was up 28 percent from the same period last year.

At the same time, CBOT December corn dropped 13.75 cents to $3.73 per bushel while November soybeans fell 17.75 cents to $9.91 per bushel.

Precious metals were higher in New York on Friday after the US dollar retreated yet again versus the euro.

December gold was $10.10 higher to $750 per troy ounce after going as high as $752.80 per troy ounce, the highest level for a most-active contract since January 1980, while silver for December delivery added 28 cents to $13.92 per troy ounce and January platinum was significantly higher, adding $25.20 to $1,398.20 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, December copper was 1 cent lower to $3.64 per pound in New York and three-month copper in London traded even at $8,020 per tonne on lower consumer confidence in the US and ahead of a new strike scheduled for next month in Latin America.

Crude oil prices fell late on the session, with November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude down $1.26 at the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $81.62 per barrel after rising to as high as $83.76 per barrel, less than a dollar below the inflation-adjusted all-time high.

Nymex November gasoline dropped 1 cent to $2.07 per gallon, while November heating oil was down 5 cents to $2.22 per gallon and November natural gas fell 4 cents to $6.88 per million British thermal units.

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