US rate cut helps crude lower

Crude oil prices were lower Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil and distillates inventories added more than anticipated last week and after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates again.

West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $2.08 to $113.55 per barrel after the Fed cut interest rates and just before the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude dropped 98 cents to $112.45 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex May gasoline was down almost a cent to $2.93 per gallon while May heating oil dropped 5 cents to $3.19 per gallon.

US inventories of crude oil were up 3.8 million barrels, more than twice the expected increase, while distillates were up 1.1 million barrels to 105.8 million barrels.

Gasoline stockpiles were down by 1.5 million barrels during the week, about twice the expected decline but remained at above average levels for this time of year.

While most metals prices were lower on the day, copper broke ranks with July copper adding 3 cents to $3.91 per pound in New York and three-month copper in London closing even at $8,548 after falling to $8,465 earlier as first-quarter output at one mine in Chile was said to have been down by 13.4 percent over the same period last year.

Otherise, zinc dropped $10 to $2,230 per tonne while lead was down $21 to $2,714 per tonne, aluminium was $57 lower to $2,907 per tonne, nickel fell $150 to $28,500 and tin plummeted $510 to $23,200 per tonne.

Among precious metals, June gold was down $10.80 near the end of floor trade in New York, to $866 per troy ounce while July silver fell 6 cents to $16.58 per troy ounce and July platinum dropped $4.90 to $1,935.20 per tonne.

Grains prices were mixed, with July wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade falling 5 cents to $8.03 per bushel while CBOT July corn added 9 cents to $6.13 on concerns that bad weather in the US Midwest will delay planting and July soybeans gained 16 cents to $13.10 on the chance that farmers in Argentina will return to protests over high export taxes.

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