US Commodities: Gold, Platinum Leap; More Widespread Buying
Monday March 3rd, 2008 / 23h39
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Gold and platinum futures hit record highs and silver a 27-year peak Monday as commodities in general remained strong and the dollar weak, leading to more fund buying, traders and analysts said. "A lot of people are discussing the downfall in the dollar," said one trader. "And we're seeing a tremendous surge in commodities across the board, not just metals, but base metals and energies. The investment appeal in all of the commodities is at a premium." Most-active April gold hit a contract high of $992 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, while nearby March hit a spot-month record of $986.90. Meanwhile, April platinum peaked at $2,245 an ounce, which a spot-continuation chart shows to be a Nymex record. Most-active May silver hit a contract high of $20.74. Nearby March peaked at $20.61, the highest level for a spot-contract month in 27 years. Bill O'Neill, one of the principals with Logic Advisors, cited fund buying "in just about everything." In addition to the ongoing factors supporting gold for some time, he said, momentum-based and options-related activity added to the rises. The metals pared their gains during the latter stages of the session on profit-taking, however, especially when it became apparent the much-talked-about $1,000 level in gold would have to wait at least another day, said one trader. April gold settled $9.20 higher at $984.20 an ounce, April platinum soared $60.90 to $2,241.60 an ounce, May silver rose 26.5 cents to $20.18 an ounce, June palladium climbed $9.05 to $585.70 an ounce, and the most-active May copper contract rose 7.35 cents to settle at $3.9285 a pound. In grains trading, soybean and soyoil futures hit new all-time highs at the Chicago Board of Trade on strong demand and overseas rallies, analysts said. May soybeans closed 23 cents higher at $15.59 1/2 per bushel after reaching a new high of $15.86 1/2. May soyoil ended limit-up, or 2 cents higher, at 70.82 cents per pound. May soymeal rose $1 to $383.20 per short ton. Record-breaking gains in foreign markets helped push the CBOT soy complex sharply higher, traders said. Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange in China settled at new records Monday, driven by surging vegetable oil prices. In other trading, wheat futures closed mostly higher Monday in a rebound from long liquidation last week, analysts said. CBOT May wheat ended 16 1/2 cents stronger at $11.02 1/2 per bushel. Kansas City Board of Trade May wheat climbed 10 3/4 cents to $11.70 3/4, but Minneapolis Grain Exchange May wheat closed limit-down, or 60 cents lower, at $15.59 3/4. CBOT, KCBT and MGE May wheat briefly touched limit up, 60 cents higher, at the opening on follow-through buying from the overnight and a bounce from recent weakness, traders said. However, MGE May wheat eventually turned lower and ended limit-down after locals sold at the close, a floor trader said. Corn futures were helped by speculative buying and gains in outside markets. May corn settled 10 cents higher at $5.66 1/2 per bushel on the CBOT, after trading as high as $5.73 1/2. December corn rose 11 1/4 cents to finish at $5.76, after reaching a high of $5.82 1/2. At ICE Futures U.S. May arabica coffee settled 0.75 cent higher at $1.6755 a pound, May world raw sugar futures settled 0.40 cent firmer at 15.02 cents a pound, most-active May cotton futures settled 3 cents stronger at 84.86 cents a pound, but most-active May cocoa futures finished $1 lower at $2,776 a metric ton as the market consolidated after recent gains. In Nymex energy trading, crude oil futures ended higher after breaching the inflation-adjusted record high Monday, as the surge into commodities sparked by the weakening dollar continued. Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled 61 cents higher, or 0.6% firmer, at $102.45 a barrel. April Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange closed at $100.50, up 40 cents. Futures jumped by more than $1 to $103.95 after the dollar hit a fresh low against the euro. The latest surge left the April 1980 inflation-adjusted high of $103.76 in the dust. Having blasted through the last record still standing, the front-month contract spent the rest of the day trading in a narrow range, between $103.10 and $103.90 before falling in the final minutes of trading. Crude has hit a new intraday record during each of the last five trading sessions. Front-month April gasoline settled 0.21 cent, or 0.1%, higher at $2.6720 a gallon. April heating oil rose 3.39 cents, or 1.2%, to finish at $2.8408 a gallon. Natural gas for April delivery settled 2 cents lower at $9.346 a million British thermal units, having lost ground in a selloff minutes before the close. The market considered gas too highly priced relative to the amount of available supply, some analysts said. - By Candace Cumberbatch, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5644; candace.cumberbatch@dowjones.com
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