Crude, grains prices fall; metals mixed

Crude oil prices were lower in afternoon trade Thursday.

August contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were 70 cents lower to $60.84 per barrel at just past 1:30 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude had dropped 28 cents to $62.81 per barrel at last report on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Declines came after the US Labor Department warned that the decline in new US unemployment claims last week likely don’t mean that conditions have improved substantially.

Nymex August gasoline futures were 6 cents higher to $1.71 per gallon while September heating oil added 7 cents to $1.62 per gallon and September natural gas gained 9 cents to $3.53 per million British thermal units.

September copper was nearly unchanged in New York trade at $2.39 per pound while three-month copper dropped $3 to $5,260 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange after going as low as $5,163 per tonne earlier in the session.

Lead was $15 lower to $1,620 per tonne in London, while nickel added $160 to $16,100 per tonne.

Aluminium, zinc and tin all went untraded at the close but bids earlier in the day had zinc up $7 to $1,549 per tonne while aluminium last bid up $35 to $1,690 per tonne and tin’s last recorded bid was $275 higher to $13,025 per tonne.

Among precious metals, platinum gained after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) issued a “buy” recommendation on January futures.

October platinum was $11.40 higher to $1,169.30 per troy ounce in New York trade while in midday trade September palladium had added $1.60 to $250 per troy ounce, but August gold was down $4 to $935.40 per troy ounce but September silver added 3 cents to $13.24 per troy ounce.

Grains prices fell in afternoon trade in Chicago.

September wheat was less than a cent lower to $5.34 per bushel, September corn fell 11 cents to $3.17 per bushel and August soybeans dropped 43 cents to $9.77 per bushel.

Story link: Crude, grains prices fall; metals mixed