Crude oil hits $123.80 per barrel in New York

Crude oil prices hit another new record at $123.80 per barrel in New York on Wednesday before trading up $1.73 to $123.57 at the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude added $1.92 to $122.23 per barrel.

Nymex June gasoline and heating oil futures also hit new record highs during the session at $3.1323 per gallon and $3.4535 per gallon respectively, but both fell back slightly from those records as the close of floor trade approached.

The US Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil inventories were up by 5.7 million barrels in the week ending 2 May while gasoline inventories added 800,000 barrels during the week but distillates stockpiles dropped by 100,000 barrels.

Copper prices for July delivery dropped 4 cents to $3.84 per pound in New York, while three-month copper in London dropped $90 to $8,430 per tonne on a stronger dollar, the end of the strike in Chile, and worries that high prices will cut demand in China.

Other base metals prices also fell, with zinc down $30 to $2,250 per tonne while aluminium was $49 lower to $2,924 per tonne, lead fell $135 to $2,420 per tonne and nickel dropped $400 to $28,500 per tonne.

June gold was $6.70 lower to $871 per troy ounce near the close of floor trade in New York, while July silver was down 15 cents to $16.71 per troy ounce and July platinum dropped 80 cents to $1,969 per troy ounce.

July contracts for rough rice on the Chicago Board of Trade added 50 cents to $21.60 per 100 pounds on tight supplies after the catastrophic cyclone that hit Myanmar over the weekend.

Myanmar had been expected to export rise this year but will likely not be able to and may well have to import rice instead due to crop damage and need at home.

CBOT July corn and soybeans also saw gains, up 6 cents to $6.13 per bushel and 32 cents to $13.09 per bushel respectively, as planting delays in the US Midwest created worries that yields will drop as a consequence.

CBOT July wheat, however, dropped 10 cents to $8.08 per bushel.

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