Commodities mostly fell in volatile trading this week as investors tracked sharp swings in global equities and the US dollar amid news that the US has escaped from recession.
Official data showed on Thursday that the US economy emerged from a vicious recession in the third quarter, following France, Germany and Japan out of the worst downturn since the 1930s.
Many analysts said that the expansion was mainly the result of exceptional government measures to stimulate growth that would eventually expire.
At the same time, markets were rattled on Friday by data showing that US consumer spending, a critical growth driver, fell for the first time in five months in September.
OIL: World oil prices dived on Friday on profit-taking, mirroring losses on global stock markets, after surging the previous day on news that the US has bounced out of recession.
Earlier this week, oil had plunged as the dollar rose against rival currencies, and amid expectations of easing violence in Nigeria, whose crude production has been ravaged by militant attacks in recent years.
The announcement last weekend of an “indefinite ceasefire” by militants in Nigeria partly allayed investor concerns over potential supply disruptions in the African country. Nigeria is the world’s eighth-largest oil producer.
The oil market also fell on Wednesday as traders reacted to rising US crude and gasoline stockpiles and souring consumer confidence.
By Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), light sweet crude for delivery in December fell to US$78.11, from US$80.48 a week earlier.
On London’s InterContinental Exchange (ICE), Brent North Sea crude for December delivery dived to US$76.38, compared with US$78.91 a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices fell as the dollar rose in value, dragging other previous metals lower, analysts said.
The price of gold had hit an all-time high earlier this month at US$1,070.80 an ounce, before running into profit-taking.
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold fell to US$1,040 an ounce from US$1,061.75 a week earlier.
Silver slid to US$16.57 an ounce from US$17.65.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum declined to US$1,320 an ounce at the late fixing on Friday from US$1,372.
Palladium retreated to US$324 an ounce from US$338.
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