Crude, precious metals prices fall on session

Crude oil prices fell significantly Monday on concerns about demand and ahead of upcoming meetings by the US Federal Reserve, which will make a decision on US interest rates, and the G-20 nations, which will meet to consider solutions to the global recession.

October contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were down $2.50 to $69.54 per barrel at about five minutes before the end of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange while, with October contracts expiring tomorrow, November WTI contracts dropped nearly 4 percent to $69.72 per barrel in afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, at last report Brent crude was $2.85 lower to $68.47 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex October gasoline futures and November heating oil futures each were 7 cents lower in afternoon trade, to $1.76 per gallon and $1.79 per gallon respectively, while November natural gas futures were 15 cents lower in earlier trade to $4.51 per million British thermal units.

December gold was $5.40 lower to $1,004.90 per troy ounce in New York trade after going as low as $996.30 per troy ounce as the US dollar strengthened.

Among other precious metals, December silver was down 19 cents to $16.88 per troy ounce and October platinum fell $16 to $1,324.50 per troy ounce, while earlier in morning trade December palladium dropped $6.50 to $298 per troy ounce.

December copper added 2 cents to $2.81 per pound in New York trade while three-month copper was up $40 to $6,215 per tonne in London.

The gains for copper came on a fifth monthly increase in the Conference Board’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators in the US, and even though inventories in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange added another 1.3 percent today to 331,825 tonnes, their highest level in 4 months, adding to the case that any rebound in demand is still in the future.

Other base metals prices were mixed in London trade.

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