LONDON (ShareCast) - Oil settled at a six-week high on Thursday, buoyed by a lower dollar, positive US economic data and a big rally by equities. The March futures contract rose 0.5%, or
$0.51, to finish the day at $102.31 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Stock Exchange. Natural gas also got a boost after a bigger-than-expected weekly fall in inventories revealed by a government report. The commodity soared 5.86% to settle at $2.57 per million British thermal units. Things were also looking up for heating oil, which saw its March futures contract climb 0.57% to $3.21 per gallon, its highest level in nine months. Unleaded gas gained 1.34% to settle at $3.05 per gallon, also on the March contract. Meanwhile gold ended the day on a high, having suffered in earlier trading. In the final hour the April contract made a swift reverse, regaining 0.02%, or $0.30, to settle at $1,728.40 per troy ounce. The commodity was in part lifted by oil's rise above the $102 mark, which sent waves of concern over inflation across the market. Silver was heading in the opposite direction, settling at $33.37 per troy ounce after losing 0.11%. Similarly, platinum was also falling, down 0.12% to $1,626.10 per troy ounce on its April contract. The picture was no better for copper, down 0.28% to $3.79 per pound. NR
Authors: Commodities - Yahoo! News Search Results
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