WTI drops below $61 per barrel

Crude oil prices were down Thursday on a cut in demand estimates from the International Energy Agency and after the US Labor Department reported that those continuing to claim unemployment benefits has reached a 25-year high.

West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $4.59 to $60.71 per barrel after going as low as $60.16 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while December contracts for Brent crude dropped $4.66 to $57.21 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex December gasoline was down 8 cents to $1.34 per gallon while December heating oil fell 11 cents to $1.95 per gallon and January natural gas dropped 31 cents to $7.18 per million British thermal units.

December copper dropped 9 cents to $1.73 per pound in New York while three-month copper fell $265 to $3,805 per tonne in London on more gains in London Metal Exchange inventories and after several central banks in Europe cut interest rates, raising more demand concerns.

Aluminium was down $52 to $2,039 per tonne while lead and aluminium each dropped $52, to $1,459 per tonne and $2,039 per tonne respectively, zinc fell $80 to $1,090 per tonne nickel fell as low as $11,405 per tonne, and tin dropped about $300 to trade in a range around $14,575/$14,600 per tonne.

Among precious metals, December gold was down $10.20 to $732.20 per troy ounce in New York on a stronger US dollar after the European interest rate cuts, while December silver was down 44 cents to $10.02 per troy ounce while January platinum dropped $41.70 per $838.30 per troy ounce.

Grains prices were mixed on the Chicago Board of Trade as December corn dropped 12 cents to $3.78 per bushel and December wheat fell 14 cents to $5.22 per bushel but November soybeans added 4 cents to $8.99 per bushel.

Story link: WTI drops below $61 per barrel