Crude prices fall, metals mixed on session

Crude oil prices fell Tuesday, but only after going above $80 per barrel in early trade, as the US dollar strengthened and ahead of an expected rise in crude stockpiles when the US Energy Information Administration reports on inventories Wednesday.

November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were down 59 cents to $79.02 per barrel shortly before the close on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery dropped 53 cents to $77.24 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

With November WTI contracts expiring at the end of the day’s trade, December contracts were down 84 cents to $79.12 per barrel in afternoon trade.

Nymex November gasoline futures were down 2 cents in afternoon trade to $1.97 per gallon while December heating oil fell a cent to $2.08 per gallon, but December natural gas added 5 cents to $5.76 per million British thermal units.

Metals prices were mixed.

December copper fell 3 cents to $2.93 per pound in New York trade, while three-month copper dropped $49 to $6,416 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange after housing starts in the US did not rise as much as expected in September and applications for new buildling permits declined during the month.

Additionally, LME copper inventories were up by another 550 tonnes, to remain near five-month highs.

Aluminium prices fell $32 to $1,913 per tonne as inventories began to climb after recent declines, tin fell $150 to $14,400 per tonne and nickel dropped $425 to $18,850 per tonne in London, while lead added $11 to $2,299 per tonne and zinc gained $16 to $2,128 per tonne.

Among precious metals, meanwhile, December gold added 50 cents to $1,058.60 per troy ounce but December silver fell 7 cents to $17.56 per troy ounce and January platinum dropped $7.90 to $1,356.30 per troy ounce.

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