Crude drops again; metals and grains remain mixed

Crude oil prices were down again on Tuesday, continuing their decline after the US Federal Reserve voted to hold interest rates at 2 percent for the time being and after Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall in Texas without ever reaching hurricane strength and without causing harm to oil facilities in the region.

September contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $2.66 to $118.66 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange shortly after the Fed’s announcement on interest rates, while at last report Brent crude had dropped $1.80 to $118.88 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

A little earlier in the session, Nymex September gasoline futures were down 2 cents to $2.99 per gallon while Nymex heating oil dropped 6 cents to $3.29 per gallon and natural gas jumped 11 cents to $8.84 per million British thermal units.

Metals prices were mixed.

Decmeber gold was down $20.60 shortly before the close of floor trade in New York to $887.30 per troy ounce, while September silver dropped 58 cents to $16.56 per troy ounce but October platinum added $21.50 to $1,584.50 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, three-month copper was down 2 cents to $3.42 per pound in New York, but three-month copper gained around $10 to trade in a range between $7,620/$7,625 per tonne.

Zinc prices fell $23 to $1,746 per tonne in London, while nickel was $425 lower to $17,600 per tonne, tin dropped $500 to $20,100 per tonne.

Lead added $15 to $2,015 per tonne while aluminium gained $18 to $2,900 per tonne.

The price of wheat for September delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade added 21 cents to $7.80 per bushel on an unexpected purchase by Egypt of 175,000 tons of winter wheat from the US and on worries that last week’s weather in growing regions could hurt US crop yields.

Meanwhile, CBOT Decmeber corn was down 10 cents to $5.45 per bushel and November soybeans dropped 26 cents to $12.69 per bushel after rain yesterday in some growing areas and predictions of below-normal temperatures for the next few days raised prospects of higher yields.

Story link: Crude drops again; metals and grains remain mixed