Metals Prices Drop

The commodities market was mixed early Friday, with energy futures tentatively higher while metals prices were dropping.

Gold was losing $11.30 to $653.80 an ounce at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver slumped 48 cents to $13.18 an ounce, and copper was off fractionally at $2.75 a pound.

Platinum was falling $36.20 to $1,209 an ounce, and palladium was losing 80 cents to $348 an ounce.

Crude oil was adding 10 cents to $62.10 a barrel, and natural gas was up 6 cents at $7.35 per million British thermal units.

Heating oil ticked up less than half a cent to $1.78 a gallon, and gasoline was ahead by 1 cent to $1.92 a gallon.

At the New York Board of Trade, cocoa and coffee futures were weaker. Sugar was on the rise.