Oil prices soared above US$82 this week as traders took their cue from better-than-expected US jobs data, firmer stock markets and the latest newsflow on the Greek debt crisis.
The devastating earthquake in Chile, meanwhile, sent tremors through the copper market because the South American country is the world’s biggest producing nation, traders said.
OIL: The price of oil rallied on Friday, with New York’s light sweet crude spiking to US$82.07 per barrel.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
The market shot higher earlier in the week after data showing a sharper-than-expected decline in US stockpiles of distillates — including diesel and heating fuel.
Distillates inventories dropped 800,000 barrels last week, the US Department of Energy said on Wednesday.
In addition, the market benefited from a weaker US dollar, which typically boosts demand for dollar-priced crude oil, pushing up prices.
By late Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), Texas light sweet crude for delivery in April was up at US$81.86 from US$79.64 a week earlier.
Brent North Sea crude for April jumped to US$80.33 from US$76.53 on London’s IntercontinentalExchange (ICE).
BASE METALS: Prices rose following last Saturday’s magnitude 8.8 quake in Chile, the world’s largest copper producing country, which left about 800 people dead.
Copper rocketed as high as US$7,634 per tonne on Wednesday, reaching a level last seen on January 11, as traders fretted over production of the key industrial metal.
Star performer nickel, meanwhile, soared to US$23,040 per tonne, the highest level since June 2008.
By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months was sharply higher at US$7,600 a tonne from US$7,100 the previous week.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold benefited from its status as a safe-haven investment amid stubborn jitters about a possible sovereign debt default in Europe.
“Owing to concerns over the fiscal deficit of several European countries, gold is likely to remain in high demand as a safe haven,” Commmerzbank analysts said.
By Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rose to US$1,135 an ounce from US$1,108.25 the previous week.
Silver climbed to US$17.25 an ounce from US$16.12.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum advanced to US$1,578 an ounce from US$1,533.
Palladium rose to US$466 an ounce from US$430.
SUGAR: Prices drifted lower, extending recent losses after hitting a 30-year high at the start of the month.
By Friday on the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the price of unrefined sugar for delivery in May slid to US$0.2179 a pound (0.45kg) compared with US$0.2346 the previous week.
On LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, the price of a tonne of white sugar for May sank to £600 from £662.60.
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