WTI declines on inventories numbers

The price of crude oil was down in New York on Wednesday but up in London as US inventories were reported to have gained again last week.

At just before the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, March contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were trading at $35.90 per barrel, down $1.63 from Tuesday’s close, while at last report Brent crude for March delivery had added 59 cents to $45.20 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

In afternoon trade in New York, Nymex March gasoline was 3 cents higher to $1.27 per gallon while March heating oil was up a cent to $1.31 per gallon.

The US Energy Information Administration reported that US crude oil inventories shot up 4.7 million more barrels in the week ending 6 February, but at the same time gasoline stockpiles dropped by 2.6 million barrels and distillates in storage were down by a million barrels.

Copper prices dropped Wednesday on new data showing that China’s copper imports dropped by 19 percent in January from Decembers imports, implying that global demand for the metal is continuing to erode.

March copper was down 4 cents to $1.54 per pound in New York, while three-month copper dropped $26 to $3,459 per tonne, or $1.57 per pound, on the London Metal Exchange.

Precious metals prices, on the other hand, saw significant gains as investors looked for safe places to invest their money as they worried that the newly announced US plan to revive banks there will not be sufficient to pull the economy out of the current recession.

Gold added $30.30 to $944.50 per troy ounce in New York, its highest price since last July, while March silver was up 39 cents to $13.52 per troy ounce and April platinum jumped $45.80 to $1,074 per troy ounce.

Meanwhile, in late morning trade, palladium added $2.85 to $214.85 per troy ounce.

Grains prices dropped on the Chicago Board of Trade, where March corn was down 8 cents to $3.68 per bushel, March wheat fell 12 cents to $5.43 per bushel and March soybeans dropped 16 cents to $9.78 per bushel.

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