Crude up slightly after early declines

Crude oil prices rose slightly Friday in New York after running lower for most of the session.

May contracts for West Texas Intermediate Crude closed up 3 cents to $110.14 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude gained 74 cents to $108.94 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex May gasoline futures added 2 cents to $2.80 per gallon while May heating oil was up less than a cent to $3.19 per gallon but May natural gas contracts dropped 20 cents to $9.90 per million British thermal units.

Precious metals prices were lower, with June gold was down $4.80 to $927 per troy ounce in New York as May silver fell 35 cents to $17.69 and July platinum dropped 16.90 to $2,028.10.

Among base metals, May copper added 2 cents to $3.94 per pound in New York, while three-month copper was $32 higher to $8,650 per tonne in London.

Aluminium was up $13 to $3,095 per tonne while lead gained $57 to $2,967 per tonne but zinc dropped $30 to $2,310 per tonne.

Prices for corn and soybeans were lower on the Chicago Board of Trade on forecasts of better weather that could aid spring planting.

CBOT May corn was 10 cents lower to $5.84 per bushel while May soybeans were down 23 cents to $13.32 per bushel.

May contracts for wheat in Chicago were also lower, dropping 26 cents to $8.96 per bushel.

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