SC:Commodities report: Oil rises on inventory figures
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Investors took bets that US inventories of oil would be tight ahead of a series of figures due to be released in the next 48 hours.
In London Brent Crude contracts for August rose slightly to $113.85, a climb of 0.2%, while in New York, West Texas Intermediate was trading electronically at the $97.45 mark, a rise of 0.6%, although floor trading was cancelled because of the July 4th holiday.
Also pushing up crude prices was news yesterday of strong US factory orders, adding pressure on the upside to a perception of tightening oil inventories.
Elsewhere gold for August delivery settled at $1,513 an ounce in late trading, barely moving on the previous day.
After rising nearly 4% on Tuesday silver fell back somewhat to around $35.34 an ounce, a drop of 0.4%.
