RTRS:COMMODITIES-Oil, gold drift lower on dollar; wheat, corn outperform
* U.S. crude falls more than $1, silver down 2 pct
* Dollar at 6-week top vs euro on euro zone debt woes
* Corn up more than 2 pct on talk of China buying
By Manolo Serapio Jr
SINGAPORE, May 16 (Reuters) - Oil and gold edged lower as a firm dollar took the shine off most commodities on Monday, while uncertainty about the global economy limited any buying interest despite two of the sharpest sell-offs since the 2008 crisis in the past two weeks.
Comments by U.S. President Barack Obama that a failure to raise the nation's debt limit could lead to a worse financial crisis and economic recession than 2008-09 and a potential euro zone debt restructuring also weighed on sentiment of investors still divided on where commodity prices were headed.
Tight global supplies had boosted commodity prices before May but market players have been increasingly shifting focus to the outlook for weaker demand.
"It does look that the prospect of weaker demand in advanced economies has now taken over as the core focus of the markets in terms of triggering price changes," said Ben Westmore, commodity economist at National Australia Bank.
U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 dropped more than a dollar to below $99 a barrel and Brent LCOc1 eased 58 cents to $113.25 by 0445 GMT on a stronger greenback and as Obama's comments stoked concerns about demand in the world's No. 1 oil consumer. Continued...
