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Oil, Gold Fall; Natural Gas, Copper Gain: Commodities at Close

By Sharon Chen

June 25, 2012

CRUDE OIL

Oil traded below $80 a barrel for a third day in New York after a report indicated that central banks will struggle to boost global economic growth, threatening demand for fuel.

Oil for August delivery fell as much as 50 cents to $79.26 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $79.40 at 3:36 p.m. Singapore time. The contract increased $1.56 to $79.76 on June 22. Prices are 20 percent lower this year and have fallen 23 percent this quarter, the biggest decline since the final three months of 2008.

NATURAL GAS

Natural gas rose for a third day in New York after Gulf of Mexico producers shut production as Tropical Storm Debby approached.

OIL PRODUCTS

Singapore gasoil swaps for July increased 75 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $106.55 a barrel at 10:43 a.m. Singapore time, according to data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a broker.

The premium of gasoil to Dubai crude fell 35 cents, or 2 percent, to $17.05 a barrel. Last week, the spread widened 9.4 percent, the biggest weekly gain since Oct. 21, amid signs that China’s consumption of diesel outpaced supplies.

Japan naphtha’s premium to London-traded Brent crude futures rose to $24.68 a metric ton from $23.56 a ton on June 22, according to Bloomberg calculations based on PVM data.

Naphtha swaps for July increased $2.25, or 0.3 percent, to $711.25 a ton, PVM data showed.

Singapore fuel oil’s premium to Dubai crude narrowed to $1.01 a barrel from $1.44 on June 22, PVM data showed.

High-sulfur fuel-oil swaps for July jumped $4.25, or 0.7 percent, to $574.75 a ton.

PRECIOUS METALS

Gold slid 3.4 percent last week as the Federal Reserve extended Operation Twist, an economic stimulus plan to buy longer-maturing debt, while refraining from additional purchases.

Bullion for immediate delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1,569.78 an ounce by 9:05 a.m. in London. Gold has dropped 5.9 percent since the end of March, the worst quarterly performance since the three months to June 2004. August-delivery futures were 0.2 percent higher at $1,570.20 on the Comex in New York.

Silver for immediate delivery fell 0.7 percent to $26.735 an ounce after falling to $26.62 on June 22, the lowest price this year. An ounce of gold bought as much as 58.9 ounces of silver today, the most since September, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

BASE METALS

Copper gained for the first time in four days, paring a quarterly drop, on speculation demand from China, the biggest user, is improving. Zinc and lead climbed.

Three-month copper rose as much as 1.2 percent to $7,400.25 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, before trading at $7,336.50 at 3:28 p.m. Shanghai time. The contract is poised to fall 13 percent this quarter, the worst since the three months to September 2011, and has lost 3.5 percent this year.

GRAINS, OILSEEDS, SOFT COMMODITIES

Palm oil gained on speculation that hot, dry weather in parts of the U.S. will damage soybean crops, potentially lowering global oilseed supplies.

The September-delivery contract rose as much as 3.6 percent to 3,059 ringgit ($958) a metric ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange and was at 3,043 ringgit at 4:03 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur. That pared this quarter’s loss to 11 percent.

Soybeans for November delivery rose as much as 3.6 percent to $14.2525 a bushel in Chicago, the highest level since May 18. December-delivery soybean oil rose 2.5 percent to 51.77 cents a pound. Palm oil and soybean oil are used in foods and fuels.

Rubber jumped by the most in a week as its slump to the lowest level in more than two years attracted buyers amid speculation that a rally in oil may boost the price of competing synthetic products used in tires.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sharon Chen in Singapore at schen462@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net