LONDON (SHARECAST) - Crude oil futures recorded its lowest settlement of 2013 on Friday, putting the loss for February at almost six per cent. The April contract lost $1.37, equal to 1.5%, closing at $90.68 per barrel on NYMEX, a loss of 2.6% for the week as a whole. Demand for the commodity was hit by less than impressive stats out from China, which showed PMI dropped to a four-month low, and the announcement of record unemployment in the Eurozone. Meanwhile, heating oil fell 1.02% to $2.93 per gallon, natural gas dropped 0.86% to $3.46 per million British thermal units, while unleaded gas bucked the trend to climb 0.54% to $3.13 per gallon. In metals, gold also took a hit on Friday, settling down 0.37% to $1,572.30, although in Asia electronic trading hours on Monday the commodity made decent gains, up 0.25% to $1,576.30, as concerns over Chinese monetary policy pushed investors away from stocks and towards the typically "safe haven" of gold. Silver rose 0.2% on Friday, edging up $0.058, while platinum fell 0.63% to $1,573.50 and copper dropped 1.31% to $3.50 per pound.

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