Gold prices nailed fresh record highs, silver struck an all-time peak and crude oil futures climbed as the dollar faltered during a shortened trading week for commodity investors.
Commodities trading was shortened this week and last owing to Easter celebrations and an extra break on Friday in the UK due to its royal wedding.
Trading will resume on Tuesday, after Britain’s traditional May Day bank holiday.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold struck an all-time peak above US$1,538 an ounce as investors continued to scoop up the traditional safe-haven precious metal, while sister metal silver also hit a record high.
Gold reached a historic US$1,538.48 on the London Bullion Market on Thursday, after silver knocked up a best ever US$49.79 an ounce at the start of the week.
Analysts said the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to hold US interest rates at 0 percent to 0.25 percent “for an extended period” benefited gold.
Silver rallied to US$48.70 an ounce from US$46.02.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum increased to US$1,835 an ounce from US$1,812.
Palladium gained to US$777 an ounce from US$765.
OIL: World oil prices gained, with New York crude reaching 2.5-year highs, as traders tracked the cloudy economic picture in the US, the biggest crude-consuming nation.
By late on Thursday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June climbed to US$125.35 a barrel from US$123.47 the previous Thursday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate or light sweet crude for June grew to US$112.64 a barrel from US$111.71.
BASE METALS: Industrial metals prices mostly fell amid rising stockpiles. By late on Thursday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months dropped to US$9,384 a tonne from US$9,648 on Thursday the previous week.
Three-month aluminum rose to US$2,770 a tonne from US$2,747.
Three-month lead dropped to US$2,493 a tonne from US$2,626.
Three-month tin retreated to US$32,150 a tonne from US$32,625.
Three-month zinc slipped to US$2,238 a tonne from US$2,366, while three-month nickel declined to US$26,613 a tonne from US$26,651.
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