Crude oil prices end session mixed

Fears of a recession in the United States sent crude oil prices lower Tuesday as many investors worried that a recession is unavoidable, despite the Federal Reserve’s move to cut interest rates today.

February contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude, which expired at the end of the day, were down 72 cents to $89.85 per barrel at the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange while March WTI contracts, more active on the day, fell 71 cents to $89.21 per barrel,

Brent crude for March delivery, on the other hand, gained 72 cents to $88.23 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe.

Metals prices were mixed on the session.

February gold added $8.60 to $890.30 per troy ounce after going as low as $849.50 earlier, but March silver was 11 cents lower to $16.11 per troy ounce, 0.7 percent lower after falling as much as 5.9 percent during the session.

April platinum dropped $6.90 to $1,558.60 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, March copper fell 4 cents to $3.20 per pound in New York, but that decline was an improvement over the $3.01 per pound copper traded at earlier in electronic trade.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange, on the other hand, gained 2.2 percent to $7,020 per tonne on a decline in inventories.

Grains prices fell on the session on demand concerns related to the possibility of a recession in the United States.

March corn on the Chicago Board of Trade was down just over 9 cents to $4.89 per bushel while March CBOT soybeans fell 24.5 cents to $12.41 per bushel and March wheat in Chicago dropped 28 cents to $9.34 per bushel.

Story link: Crude oil prices end session mixed