Commodities markets summary
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- World commodities: Commodities markets summary
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AAP
2012-07-09
A summary of trading in key commodities markets overseas:
ENERGY
Oil prices slid on Friday as bearish views of consumption took root after dismal US jobs numbers and the IMF's warning it will cut its global growth forecast later this month.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery, lost $US2.77 to stand at $US84.45 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for August dropped $US2.51 to $US98.19 a barrel in London.
PRECIOUS METALS
Gold futures fell, tracking declines in the euro after a reading on the US labour market missed forecasts but didn't show enough weakness to lift expectations that the Federal Reserve will have to act to prop up the economy.
The most actively traded gold contract, for August delivery, on Friday fell $US30.50, or 1.9 per cent, to settle at $US1,578.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest ending price since June 28.
Gold initially cut its losses after the release of the data, reaching a high of $US1,601.60/oz, before resuming its retreat as the US dollar strengthened and investors viewed the report as not bleak enough to prompt imminent action from the Fed.
Settlements: August delivery gold closed at $US1,578.90, down $US 30.50; September silver finished at $US26.920, down 75.2 US cents; October platinum ended at $US1,449.50, down $US28.20; September palladium settled at $US580.35, down $US5.40.
BASE METALS
Copper closed at its lowest price in more than a week on the London Metal Exchange (LME) after a much-anticipated payroll reading from the US failed to lift hopes for a third round of quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve.
At the PM kerb close on Friday, LME three-month copper was down 2.1 per cent on the day at $US7,530 a metric ton, its lowest close since June 28.
Nickel lost the most ground, ending the session at $US16,150/ton, down 3.3 per cent.
The Labor Department's June nonfarm payroll report undershot expectations Friday, with 80,000 jobs added last month, compared with an anticipated 100,000. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of US households, was unchanged at 8.2 per cent.
