AFP: Oil falls to $45 on slow demand; copper slips
Oil fell almost a dollar to around $45 a barrel on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to a U.S. inventory report expected to show rising supplies and weak demand in the world's top consumer.
Gold slipped as investors took profits after the previous session's rally. Copper fell 5 percent as rising inventories weighed.
"We still seem to be firmly mired in recessionary conditions," said Edward Meir, oil analyst at MF Global.
"While commodity rallies still could come our way, these moves should be greeted with a high degree of scepticism."
U.S. crude oil inventories are expected to rise for the fifth straight week as imports increased further, a preliminary Reuters poll of analysts showed on Monday.
Stocks have risen as fuel demand weakens due to the recession, despite agreements by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut supply in a bid to prop up prices.
Industry group American Petroleum Institute will start releasing its oil inventory report this week on Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT). The Energy Information Administration releases its report on Wednesday.
U.S. crude fell 78 cents to $44.95 a barrel by 1246 GMT. It has rebounded from below $33 a barrel in the past week.
The euro hit a one-week high versus the dollar and the yen on Tuesday due to a rise in German corporate sentiment, suggesting companies there were less pessimistic over the economic outlook than expected.
Germany's Ifo economic research institute said that its business climate index rose to 83.0 in January from an upwardly revised 82.7 in December, exceeding forecasts and posting its first improvement in eight months.
Spot gold dipped to a low of $891.60 an ounce, and was quoted at $894.55/896.15 an ounce at 1246 GMT, against $902.65 late in New York on Monday.
Copper for three-months delivery fell to $3,381 a tonne and was at $3,390 by 1229 GMT, versus $3,560 a tonne on Monday, when it rallied about 10 percent.
Inventories of the metal on the LME rose 12,375 tonnes to 451,800 tonnes, the highest level since December 2003.
In other commodities, cocoa eased further from recent highs. March cocoa was off 1.4 percent to $2,630 a tonne.
