Commodities: Crude closes above $79

Date: Monday 25 Jun 2012

Crude oil futures rose on Friday but nursed a weekly loss of five per cent amid concern about future demand as global growth weakens.

Crude oil for August delivery climbed $1.56 to settle at $79.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was down 5.4% for the week however.

Prices were supported on Friday on a relatively quiet day for key macroeconomic news as bargain hunters moved in.

The possibility of a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico also fuelled demand after the National Hurricane Centre said the low-pressure system north of the Yucatán Peninsula is expected to be upgraded to a tropical cyclone by the weekend.

The weaker dollar and gains amongst US equities also drove interest in crude oil.

Meanwhile on the ICE futures exchanged, Brent crude for August delivery settled $1.75 higher at $90.98 a barrel. Brent dipped below $90 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since late 2010.

Among precious metals gold snapped four days of losses on Friday to register a slim 0.1% gain as the yellow metal struggled to find direction.

Gold for August delivery rose $1.50 to settle at $1,566.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week bullion lost 3.8% after weak US manufacturing data and expectations of low inflation.

July silver was down 18 cents at $26.66 an ounce while July copper rose 1 cent to $3.31 a pound.





CJ

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