Crude oil, copper gain as precious metals and grains decline

Crude oil prices saw gains Friday as investors continued to bet that demand will rebound to use up the most stockpiles in US inventories in nearly two decades despite very little economic data supporting their hopes and even though the US Energy Information Administration, the International Energy Agency and OPEC all have recently cut their demand forecasts.

West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery were up 68 cents to $50.66 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude gained 44 cents to $53.50 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange in London.

Nymex May gasoline futures added 2 cents to $1.49 per gallon on the session, while June heating oil traded even at $1.44 per gallon and May natural gas was 13 cents higher to $3.76 per million British thermal units.

Precious metals prices dropped Friday in New York trade.

July platinum was down $4.20 to $1,211.60 per troy ounce on a report from Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) reported that its sales fell 11.4 percent in the first quarter of the year despite gains in China, Russia and Japan after its US sales were down 19.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

June palladium which, like platinum, is used to make pollution control devices for motor vehicles, was down $1.75 to $234.40 per troy ounce in morning trade, while June gold was $11.90 lower to $867.90 per troy ounce and May silver dropped 47 cents to $11.79 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, July copper added 2 cents to $2.20 per pound in New York while three-month copper gained $71 to $4,800 per tonne in London.

Grains prices were also lower on the Chicago Board of Trade as May wheat fell 1 cent to $523 per bushel, May soybeans were 7 cents lower to $10.51 per bushel and May corn dropped 9 cents to $3.76 per bushel.

Story link: Crude oil, copper gain as precious metals and grains decline