Crude oil, metals down on rescue plan concerns

Crude oil prices dropped Tuesday on more demand concerns, a stronger dollar, and uncertainty about what will happen with the $700 billion government plan to buy up bad debt from the financial sector as disagreements and skepticism made early adoption of a specific plan unlikely.

November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $2.68 to $106.69 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after climbing more than $6 per barrel yesterday, while Brent crude was down $2.88 to $103.16 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex October gasoline futures were 13 cents lower to $2.58 per gallon at last report, while November heating oil had dropped 5 cents to $3.02 per gallon.

Metals prices were also mostly lower.

December copper was down 10 cents to $3.15 per pound in New York, while three-month copper dropped $353 to $6,980 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange as investors also wondered if demand was really picking up in China, an assumption made after LME inventories in Asian warehouses declined recently.

A gain in aluminium inventories to 13 days of global consumption sent aluminium prices down, dropping $40 to $2.508 per tonne, while zinc was down $70 to $1,770 and tin and nickel each fell $200, to $17,400 per tonne and $17,200 per tonne respectively, but lead added $10 to $2,000 per tonne.

December gold dropped $17.70 to $891.30 per troy ounce in New York on less volatility in financial markets after the metal added 5.1 percent on Monday, while December silver fell 28 cents to $13.17 per troy ounce and October platinum was down $23.80 to $1,212 per troy ounce.

Grains prices were mixed on the Chicago Board of Trade.

CBOT December corn added a cent to $5.60 per bushel and December wheat gained 12 cents to $7.50 per bushel, but November soybeans dropped 18 cents to $11.87 per bushel.

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