Crude prices up ahead of stockpiles report

Crude oil prices were up again Tuesday as quarterly corporate earnings report continue to come in better than had been expected and ahead of tomorrow’s weekly US inventories report from the Energy Information Administration, where oil inventories are expected to have declined again but gasoline stockpiles were likely up last week.

At around 11:30 a.m. in New York, August contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude, which were to expire later in the day, were up 88 cents to $64.86 per barrel after having gone above $65 per barrel earlier in the session in the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude was last reported 96 cents higher to $67.40 per barrel.

In morning trade in New York, Nymex August gasoline futures and September heating oil futures each added 2 cents, to $1.79 per gallon and $1.74 per gallon respectively, but September natural gas was 5 cents lower to $3.79 per million British thermal units.

August gold was down $1.80 to $947 per troy ounce while September silver fell 15 cents to $13.48 per troy ounce and October platinum dropped $11.90 to $1,177 per troy ounce.

Demand was cut by testimony in front of the House Financial Services committee from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that US interest rates will remain low for the foreseeable future.

September copper was down 2 cents to $2.45 per pound in New York trade after having gone as high as $2.49 per pound earlier in the session., but three-month copper was up $33 to $5,383 per tonne in London on the possibility that demand for construction and manufacturing will increase soon.

Other base metals, however, saw prices decline in London trade.

Grains prices were lower in afternoon trade in Chicago, where September wheat fell 7 cents to $5.34 per bushel, September corn was down 12 cents to $3.11 per bushel and August soybeans dropped 18 cents to $10.14 per bushel.

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