Gold Advances, Oil Surges

Ivaylo
09 Jul, 2007
New York City

Commodities advanced broadly on Friday with gold rising on weaker dollar and surging oil prices. The strong June jobs report boosted the dollar initially, but then the greenback could not hold onto its gains. August gold added as the metal usually goes in the opposite direction of the dollar. Silver also advanced, as well as copper. Renewed violence in Nigeria lifted the price of oil futures. Nickel lost, bucking the trend with the other industrial metals which edged higher.

[R]5:30AM Gold gains Friday as dollar weakens, oil surges on Nigeria turmoil.[/R]

August gold advanced to $654.80, up $4.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September silver settled at $12.757, up 17.7 cents an ounce and September copper finished at $3.5945, up 0.1 cent a pound. Copper prices retreated from early gains tracking reports of decreasing inventories held by both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange, which posted a third-straight week of declines. Nickel prices lost 2.2% on the London Metal Exchange, while the other industrial metals edged higher.

Crude prices reached $72.94 a barrel in intraday trading on the Nymex over worries about renewed violence in Nigeria. Crude oil for August delivery gained $1 to settle at $72.81. Gasoline futures rallied 2.53 cents to end at $2.3096 a gallon, while a flooded refinery in Coffeyville, Kan., remained closed.

On the Chicago Board of Trade, weather forecasts for hotter, drier weather in the western Corn Belt supported corn prices in its recovery from the tumble of recent weeks. December corn advanced 9.4 cents a bushel to end at $3.52. November soybeans rose 9.4 cents to close at $8.96 a bushel. September wheat gained 6 cents to settle at $6.10 a bushel.