WTI trades above $66 per barrel

Crude oil prices rose to their highest level this year in New York as West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery added $1.23 to $66.31 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude was up $1.08 to $65.47 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Gains came on bets by speculators that demand will rise soon and on declines in US inventories.

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) reported, meanwhile, that the number of rigs looking for crude oil and natural gas in the United States fell to 899 this week, down by over 50 percent from this time last year, with just 187 rigs specifically searching for crude oil.

Nymex June gasoline futures were up less than a cent to $1.91 per gallon.

July copper added 6 cents to $2.20 per pound, bringing price gains for the metal used in manufacturing and construction up 56 percent so far this year, while three-month copper was up $70 to $4,820 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Aluminium, nickel, tin, lead, and zinc all saw price gains as well, in the 1.8 percent to 5.9 percent range on the session.

Gains for industrial metals came after new data showed that Japanese factory output rose 5.2 percent in April compared to March and on the news that India’s economy expanded by 5.8 percent in the first quarter.

Among precious metals, August gold was up $17.10 to $980.30 per troy ounce while at the same time July silver added 45 cents to $15.61 per troy ounce and July platinum gained $46.20 to $1,196 per troy ounce.

Grains prices were up on the Chicago Board of Trade, where July soybeans added 5 cents to $11.84 per bushel while July wheat was up 6 cents to $6.37 per bushel and July corn gained 7 cents to $4.36 per bushel.

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