WTI drops another dollar in New York trade

Crude oil prices closed lower Friday despite the possibility that OPEC could cut production further after an unexpected meeting of the cartel’s members was announced for 29 November in Cairo.

December contracts for WTI were down $1.10 to $57.14 per barrel at the close of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Nymex gasoline futures for December fell 6 cents to $1.24 per gallon.

The declines came after new data from the US Energy Information Administration, released Thursday, showed that crude oil inventories were steady in the week ending 7 November, gasoline stockpiles added 2 million barrels over the week and distillates stockpiles gained 600,000 barrels.

Base metals prices were mixed while precious metals saw gains on the session.

March copper added 9 cents to $1.72 per pound in New York while three-month copper was up $190 to $3,820 per tonne in London while tin gained $200 to $13,900 per tonne and lead was up $12 to $1,350 per tonne.

Aluminium dropped $3 to $1,925 per tonne after LME inventories added 1,075 tonnes to around 1.6 million tonnes while zinc was down $10 to $1,200 per tonne and nickel plummeted $450 to $11,000 per tonne.

Among precious metals, December gold added $37 to $742 per troy ounce, December silver was up 70 cents to $9.50 per troy ounce and January platinum gained $32.10 to $845.10 per troy ounce.

In afternoon action on the Chicago Board of Trade, December corn added 3 cents to $3.80 per bushel and December wheat was up 16 cents to $5.55 per bushel but November soybeans dropped 9 cents to $8.78 per bushel.

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