Commodities: Crude Oil Gains, Gold Dips
Updated from 1:10 p.m. EDT
Energy and agricultural futures were mainly to the plus side Monday, while most precious metals prices decreased.
Crude oil
for April delivery rose $1.10 to $47.35 a barrel despite OPEC's decision to not change its production targets. Reformulated gasoline gained 1 cent to almost $1.37 a gallon, and heating oil was fractionally higher at $1.21 a gallon. Natural gas fell 8 cents to $3.85 per million British thermal units.
Among metals, gold dropped $8.10 to $922 an ounce, and silver was off 33 cents at $12.89 an ounce. Platinum was slightly lower, and palladium was little changed. Copper, meanwhile, added 7 cents to $1.73 a pound.
Most agricultural contracts were stronger, led by soybeans, wheat and cocoa. Lean hogs and cattle declined. In the foreign exchange market, the dollar fell against the majority of its major competitors.
The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index was up 2.81 points to end at 213.89.
As for commodity-related stocks, major oil companies were flat.
Exxon Mobil
(XOM) - Get Report
was down 0.3% at $66.97,
ConocoPhillips
(COP) - Get Report
fell 0.8% to $36.12, and
Chevron
(CVX) - Get Report
edged up 3 cents to $62.94.
Metals companies were mixed.
Alcoa
(AA) - Get Report
gained 6.8% to $6.12, and
Freeport-McMoRan
(FCX) - Get Report
was up 0.6% at $37.26.
BHP
(BHP) - Get Report
and
Rio Tinto
(RTP) - Get Report
, though, dropped.
Ag stocks
Monsanto
(MON)
and
Bunge
(BG) - Get Report
rose, while
Potash
(POT)
fell.
Turning to exchange-traded funds, the
U.S. Oil
(USO) - Get Report
was up 2.2% at $28.25, but the
Gold Shares
(GLD) - Get Report
was down 0.6% at $90.80. The
iShares Silver Trust
(SLV) - Get Report
was off 2% to $12.79.
