Gold gains as crude oil, metals, grains all decline

Comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, new data from the US Commerce and Labor departments on retail sales and producer price inflation, and a prediction from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that global oil demand growth won’t be as vigorous next year as it was this year all combined to cut crude oil prices Tuesday.

West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery traded as high as $146.73 per barrel and as low as $135.92 per barrel during the session before settling at $138.74 per barrel at the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a decline of $6.44 over Monday’s close and the second-largest dollar decline for Nymex oil in history.

August contracts for Brent crude, meanwhile, were down $6.33 to $137.59 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex August gasoline futures were down 7 cents to $3.48 per gallon while September heating oil fell 1 cent to $4.10 per gallon and September natural gas dropped 55 cents to $11.50 per million British thermal units.

The price of gold was up on a decline in the dollar, but platinum prices declined on concerns that high prices will cut demand.

August gold added $5 to $978.70 per troy ounce after trading as high as $989.60 per troy ounce earlier in the seesion, while September silver was down 24 cents to $19.01 per troy ounce and October platinum dropped $54.10 to $1,981.90 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, September copper was down 5 cents to $3.70 per pound in New York, while three-month copper dropped $140 to $8,140 per tonne, or $3.69 per pound, on the London Metal Exchange after new data showed that China’s imports of copper and alloys dropped 19 percent this June from last year’s imports in the same month.

Grains prices were lower on the Chicago Board of Trade, with September wheat 7 cents lower to $8.11 per bushel while December corn fell 15 cents to $6.66 per bushel and November soybeans dropped 43 cents to $15.16 per bushel.

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