WTI adds $2.40 per barrel on session

The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil for May delivery added $2.40 on Friday to $106.23 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude was up $2.27 to $104.79 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

The gains came as the dollar weakened versus the euro and investors chose to invest in commodities, including oil.

Nymex May gasoline added a bit over 3 cents to $2.75 per gallon while May heating oil was up 6 cents to $2.99 per gallon and May natural gas dropped 7 cents to $9.35 per million British thermal units.

Prices were pushed higher by a fire in a refinery in Los Angeles that caused a partial shutdown there.

The price of gold climbed slightly on Friday, with June gold adding $3.90 to $913.50 per troy ounce.

May silver up 28 cents to $17.76 per troy ounce while July platinum gained $22.10 to $2,035 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, May copper was up 5 cents to $3.96 per pound in New York while three-month copper in London added $100 to $8,660 per tonne.

Tin was $5 higher to $20,200 per tonne while aluminium was up $42 to $2,953 per tonne, zinc adde $45 to $2,365 per tonne and nickel gained $100 to $29,200 per tonne.

Lead prices were $20 lower to $2,940 per tonne.

Grains prices were mixed.

May corn on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 2 cents to $5.97 per bushel.

On the other hand, May soybeans added 19 cents to $12.76 per bushel on the possibility that strikes in South America could raise demand for US crops while May wheat gained 41 cents to $9.78 per bushel on bad weather in US growing regions, with some areas getting too little rain and others getting too much.

Story link: WTI adds $2.40 per barrel on session