SH: Commodities: Crude retreats, gold comes off the boil
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Oil prices ended the day lower, but off session lows, after a drop in weekly US crude supplies and as investors mulled weaker than expected manufacturing figures.
Crude oil futures for October delivery settled 78 cents lower at $76.02 a barrel on the New YorkMercantile Exchange. The report suggested the manufacturing industry is still anxious about economic prospects.
The New York region manufacturing index was down to 4.1 from 7.1 in August. A positive reading indicates expansion.
Meanwhile the Energy Information Administration said US crude oil reserves fell by 2.489m barrels in the week ended 10 September, pretty much in with expectations. Gasoline inventories fell by 694,000 barrels while distillates, used in diesel and heating oil, fell by 340,000 barrels.
Gold futures retreated from its record high as the dollar firmed and profit takers moved in. Gold for December delivery fell $3 to $1,268.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
However other precious metals powered ahead. Silver for December rose 14 cents to close at $20.57 an ounce while palladium for the same month climbed $5.80 at $559.60 an ounce. October platinum bounced $10.90 to $1,605.30.
