Crude prices, gold see declines

Crude oil prices were lower on Tuesday the US Commerce Department reported that retail sales were down in December an after President George W. Bush made comments that amplified worries that continuing high oil prices could hurt the US economy and dent demand for oil and oil products.

Near the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery had dropped $2.45 to $91.75 per barrel.

Nymex February gasoline was 8 cents lower to $2.29 per gallon while March heating oil had dropped 5 cents to $2.53 per gallon and March natural gas was down 14 cents to $8.13 per million British thermal units.

Precious metals prices were mixed on the session after the US dollar strengthened versus the euro.

February gold was down 90 cents to $902.50 per troy ounce, while March silver dropped 12 cents to $16.31 per troy ounce by the end of floor trade in New York.

On the other hand, April platinum added $1.50 to $1,585.50 per troy ounce.

Copper prices were hurt by the US retail sales data as investors feared that the slowdown in the US economy could hurt demand for the metal since 15 percent of global supplies are consumed by the United States.

March copper dropped 10 cents to $3.24 per pound in New York, while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell $240 to $7,160 per tonne.

Zinc closed at $2,300 per tonne, a decline of $96 on the day, while aluminium dropped $65 to $2,483 per tonne and nickel was down $900 to $28,400 per tonne.

Tin was at $16,215 per tonne and lead ended the session at $2,655 per tonne.

March wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade added 15 cents to $9.32 per bushel on the possibility that predicted freezing weather at the end of the week and over the weekend in some growing regions of the Midwest could hurt crops.

Elsewhere among grains, March CBOT soybeans added 5 cents to $13.01 per bushel but March corn dropped 3 cents to $5.08 per bushel.

Story link: Crude prices, gold see declines