Oil prices gain slightly

February contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded at $93.65 per barrel, up 34 cents from Friday’s close shortly before an early close on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday, after having dropped earlier in the session on mild weather predictions for the next two weeks in the US.

Trade was limited due to the upcoming holiday.

Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange gained 8 cents to $92.54 per barrel.

Precious metals prices were mixed.

February gold added $1.10 to $816.50 per troy ounce while March silver was up 17 cents to $14.66 per troy ounce and March palladium was $2.25 higher to $363.40 per troy ounce.

January platinum, however, dropped $9.50 to $1,526.80 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, copper gained 5.6 cents to $3.15 per pound in New York.

The New York Mercantile Exchange will close tomorrow for Christmas, while the London Metal Exchange was closed all day, will be closed through Wednesday, and will return to regular trading hours on Thursday.

Grains prices were mixed on the Chicago Board of Trade.

March CBOT corn added 1 cent to $1.445 per bushel and January soybeans were up 3.5 cents to $11.81 per bushel, but March wheat dropped 13.5 cents to $9.35 per bushel.

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