Metals Prices Tick Lower

Energy futures were moving a bit higher, but metals prices were falling early Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Crude oil was up 2 cents at $57.73 a barrel, and natural gas was ahead by 6 cents at $7.76 per million British thermal units. Heating oil was fractionally higher at $1.67 a gallon, while gasoline inched up less than a penny to $1.54 a gallon.

As for precious metals, gold was losing $3.80 to $653.50 an ounce, and silver was off 18 cents at $13.53 an ounce. Copper shed nearly 6 cents to just under $2.40 a pound.