Oil, metals, grains prices all lower on session

Crude oil prices dropped Monday as the weather warmed in the northeastern United States and as economic concerns prompted worries that demand for oil will decline.

West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was $2.81 lower to $95.10 per barrel at the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange while February contracts for Brent crude fell $2.36 to $94.43 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex February heating oil futures were 9 cents lower to $2.60 per gallon on predictions that demand will fall in the next week do to warmer weather, while February gasoline dropped 8 cents to $2.44 per gallon.

March natural gas added 7 cents to $7.89 per million British thermal units.

Copper prices were also down in New York on Monday as last week’s reports on manufacturing and employment in the US continued to cause demand concerns.

March copper dropped 2 cents to 3.14 per pound in New York, while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange traded about steady at $6,905.25 per tonne, or $3.13 per pound.

Also pressuring prices were LME copper inventories that were 1.2 percent higher on the session to 201,000 tonnes.

Meanwhile among precious metals, February gold was down $3.40 to $862.30 per troy ounce while March silver was 17 cents lower to $15.29 per troy ounce and April platinum dropped $16 to $1,531.10 per troy ounce.

Grains prices dropped as well.

March corn on the Chicago Board of Trade lost half a cent to $4.66 per bushel while March soybeans were down 12.75 cents to $12.50 per bushel and March wheat fell 28 cents to $9.03 per bushel.

Story link: Oil, metals, grains prices all lower on session