Crude rises as precious metals, grains decline

Crude oil prices jumped again Thursday on indications that production cuts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are beginning to affect the US market, and on the possibility that OPEC could soon cut production beyond the 4.2 million barrels per day already cut .

In addition, demand is beginning to rise again in the United States after falling recently.

April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude added $2.72 to $45.22 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude was up $2.22 to $46.51 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex March gasoline futures added 13 cents in afternoon trade to $1.30 per gallon while April heating oil was up 13 cents to $1.29 per gallon and April natural gas gained 4 cents to $4.07 per million British thermal units.

Precious metals prices were lower in New York on lower demand as equities markets saw some gains, reducing the attraction of gold as a safe investment.

April gold was $23.60 lower on the session to $942.60 per troy once while May silver dropped 94 cents to $12.98 per troy ounce and April platinum fell $7 to $1,053 per troy ounce.

In late morning trade June palladium was down $4.30 to $196.90 per troy ounce.

Meanwhile, May contracts for copper were 4 cents higher to $1.58 per pound in New York trade.

Grains prices were lower on the Chicago Board of Trade.

CBOT March corn fell a cent to $3.62 per bushel while March soybeans were 8 cents lower to $8.69 per bushel and March wheat dropped 10 cents to $5.14 per bushel.

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