BLBG:Natural Gas Continues Slide; Gold Rises: Commodities at Close
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 commodities slid 0.2 percent to 658.46 at 4:55 p.m. Singapore time. The UBS Bloomberg CMCI index of 26 raw materials climbed 1.3 percent to 1562.714.
CRUDE OIL
Oil traded near the highest level in three days in New York as speculation supplies from Iran will be disrupted countered concern that economic growth will slow.
Crude for February delivery was at $100.78 a barrel, up 7 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 4:43 p.m. Singapore time. The contract earlier rose as much as 72 cents. It closed at $100.71 yesterday, up $2.01 from Jan. 13. Floor trading was shut Jan. 16 for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and electronic trades were booked with yesterday’s transactions for settlement.
NATURAL GAS
OIL PRODUCTS
Gasoil’s premium to Asian marker Dubai crude fell 45 cents to $18.92 a barrel at 6:17 p.m. Singapore time, based on data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a broker. This crack spread narrowed for the third time in four days.
Benchmark Japan naphtha swaps were at a premium of $72.29 a metric ton to Brent crude futures at 5:15 p.m. Singapore time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This crack spread was $96.47 a ton yesterday.
PRECIOUS METALS
Spot gold gained as much as 0.4 percent to $1,658.45 an ounce and traded at $1,654.48 at 1:40 p.m. in Singapore. The metal climbed to $1,667.90 yesterday, the highest since Dec. 13 and an increase of 6.7 percent this year. February-delivery bullion was little changed at $1,655.20 on the Comex in New York.
BASE METALS
Three-month delivery copper on the London Metal Exchange swung between gains and losses, and traded little changed at
8,189 a metric ton by 3:03 p.m. Shanghai time. The contract rose to $8,262 yesterday, the highest level since Oct. 28. Copper for March-delivery on the Comex in New York was little changed at $3.73 a pound.
GRAINS, SOFT COMMODITIES, LIVESTOCK
March-delivery soybeans fell as much as 0.6 percent to $11.76 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade before trading at $11.7625 at 2:45 p.m. Singapore time.
Corn for delivery in March declined 0.2 percent to $6.0275 a bushel in Chicago, after gaining as much as 0.4 percent while wheat for delivery in the same month fell 0.5 percent to $6.02.
Cotton for March delivery rose 2.8 percent to settle at 98.19 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. yesterday. Orange-juice futures dropped 0.1 percent to $1.8435 a pound in New York. The commodity has climbed 9.1 percent this month.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net