By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil and gold futures gained Thursday, buoyed by an agreement in Europe for a plan to deal with the region’s sovereign-debt crisis.
Crude for September delivery CL1U +1.40% , the new front-month contract, added 22 cents, or 0.2%, to $98.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold for August delivery GC1Q +0.08% added $3.70, or 0.2%, to $1,601 an ounce on the Comex division of the Nymex.
The draft proposal would allow the European Financial Stability Facility to buy bonds in the secondary market while extending the maturity of loans and lowering interest rates, reducing the debt loads of the countries in trouble, according to media reports.
The plan stoked hopes of a resolution for a months-long crisis that has rocked the world’s economy and undermined faith in a sustained recovery. The euro EURUSD +1.12% gained from such expectations, driving the dollar lower and helping U.S. dollar- denominated commodities.
Also supporting oil, the International Energy Agency said it won’t release more oil from its member countries’s emergency reserves.
The initial release of 60 million barrels, half of which come from U.S. emergency supplies, “served a market need by adding liquidity and bridging the gap to additional supplies“ from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, but more, at least for now, is not needed, the IEA said.
The agency stands ready to release more oil “if market conditions again warrant,” it added.
Most metals tracked gold higher, with September silver SI1U +0.54% up 39 cents, or 1%, to $39.94 per ounce.
Energy products also mostly tracked oil, with gasoline the lone exception. August gasoline RB1Q -0.18% retreated 1 cent, or 0.5%, to $3.13 a gallon.
