Basic metals and oil futures registered slight gains on Thursday following dovish remarks from candidate to Fed Chairman Janet Yellen.
Speaking before the US Senate´s banking committee, Yellen said that the risks in ending asset purchases too early do not get as much attention as the risks of keeping quantitative easing going too long.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures nudged higher by 26 cents to the $93.76/barrel mark on the NYMEX, but were nevertheless poised for their longest weekly losing streak since December of 1998.
Crude oil inventories surged by 2.64m barrels last week, more than tripling analysts´ estimates, in part as a result of the average 620,000 barrel/day rise seen last week in US oil imports, the latest weekly figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed.
Stocks of distillates also declined by less than had been expected that same report showed.
Copper futures for three month delivery gained on the LME, advancing by 0.17% to the $6,992/Metric ton.
Gold futures rose by $4.90 to $1,286.30/ounce. It may be due for a bounce as long as technical support at $1,250/ounce manages to hold, technical analysts at Sharecast pointed out.
Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT) finished $2.4 lower at $1,317.2/bushel, pressured by forecasts for better weather conditions in Brazil.
December corn futures slipped lower by $3.2 to settle at $426.4 in CBoT trading.
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