New York oil prices surged on Friday to the highest level in two-and-a-half years as Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s forces regained ground against rebels.
Libya, a key crude exporting nation in the Middle East and North Africa region, has seen its oil output slashed by violent unrest.
OIL: New York’s light sweet crude spiked on Friday to US$107.93 per barrel — the highest level since late September 2008.
The market won support as Libyan rebels battled Qaddafi’s forces at the oil town of Brega, while the West backed off from arming the rag-tag fighters and pushed for a political solution instead.
“I think again investors are back looking at the unrest in Libya, so that is the reason why oil has hit two-and-a-half year highs,” said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst for Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Renewed gains by Qaddafi’s men indicated prolonged civil strife in the war-torn oil-exporting nation.
Ong added that a third consecutive week of declines in US jobless claims also renewed investor confidence in the economy of the world’s largest oil consumer.
By late Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May jumped to US$118.21 a barrel from US$115.10 one week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate, or light sweet crude, for May increased to US$107.50 a barrel from US$105.71.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold fell a week after hitting a record US$1,447.82 an ounce thanks to its status of a safe haven investment.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold dropped to US$1,418 an ounce from US$1,436 a week earlier.
Silver dipped to US$37.63 an ounce from US$37.68.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum grew to US$1,773 an ounce from US$1,752.
Palladium climbed to US$772 an ounce from US$754.
BASE METALS: Aluminum struck a two-and-a-half-year high on Friday before falling back, while other base metals slid over the week.
Aluminum futures reached US$2,656 a tonne on Tuesday — the highest level since September 2008.
“Aluminum and lead are underpinned — aluminum as high oil prices could impact production and lead on the back of a pick-up in demand for back-up batteries in Japan,” FastMarkets analyst William Adams said.
By late Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months sank to US$9,306 a tonne from US$9,711 a week earlier.
Three-month aluminum dipped to US$2,610 a tonne from US$2,642.
Three-month lead edged down to US$2,672 a tonne from US$2,673.75.
COCOA: Cocoa futures struck multi-month lows, losing a tenth of their value in the process, as fighters backing internationally recognized Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara seized control of the world’s biggest cocoa exporting port.
“Attention in the cocoa market remains focused on the situation in Ivory Coast, which accounts for over one-third of global production and where internal fighting has led to an almost standstill in cocoa exports in the past few months,” analysts at Barclays Capital said.
By Friday on LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, cocoa for delivery in July stood at £1,898 a tonne compared with £2,111 for the May contract a week earlier.
In New York on the NYBOT-ICE, cocoa for May fell to US$2,933 a tonne from US$3,260.
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