THE prices of copper and oil rose yesterday on the international market while those of gold recorded a downward trend. Reuters reports that copper prices gained more than one per cent after falling for three consecutive days while those of oil went up to $113 a barrel for the second consecutive day boosted by expectations of lower United States crude stockpiles after a storm disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico.
The prices of three-months copper supply on the London Metal Exchange (LME) soared by 1.2 per cent to $9,037 a tonne after ending the previous session 0.3 per cent lower. The most-active November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFc3 traded 1.2 per cent higher at 67,800 Yuan per tonne, after ending little-changed in the previous session.
A Reuters poll ahead of the weekly inventory report from the US Energy Information Administration showed an average forecast for a drop of 1.9 million barrels. Tropical Storm Lee, which made landfall over the weekend, was also expected to have disrupted imports, adding to the impact of Hurricane Irene, which forced the closure of several oil hubs on the U.S. East Coast the previous weekend.
