14:59 DJS Crude Oil Modestly Higher; Metals End Mixed; CRB Index Down 0.40
14:59 DJS Crude Oil Modestly Higher; Metals End Mixed; CRB Index Down 0.40
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Commodities futures settled mixed Wednesday. On
the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude-oil futures ended modestly higher, and
petroleum-products futures also advanced, after two inventory reports offered
differing views of U.S. crude-oil stock builds. Also in New York, precious
metals settled mostly higher. In Chicago, grains and beans ended broadly
lower.
Shortly before 4 p.m. EDT, the CRB-Bridge futures index was down 0.40
at 203.31.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, November crude oil finished up 16
cents at $16.14 a barrel. December crude oil rose 13 cents to end at $16.16.
The American Petroleum Institute's weekly inventory report, out Tuesday
evening, showed a 6.273-million-barrels build in crude stocks last week. On
Wednesday morning, the Department of Energy, in its weekly report, showed only
a 3.1-million-barrels build.
In the six weekly API reports prior to Tuesday's, crude stocks fell
nearly 28 million barrels. Analysts said import disruptions associated with
early September storms Frances and Earl in the Gulf of Mexico kept barrels
from making their way to storage. While the API and DOE showed that the import
delays were corrected to a degree last week, some analysts expect former
Hurricane Georges' romp through the region to yield further delays this week.
Among petroleum products: October unleaded gasoline jumped 1.47 cents
to go off the board at 47.74 cents a gallon, boosted by a combination of
refinery outages in the U.S. Gulf Coast and supportive inventory data. Chevron
Corp.'s large 295,000-barrels-a-day refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, was
still down after sustaining flood damage from Hurricane Georges.
Cash gasoline prices in the U.S. Gulf firmed by 1.5 cents a gallon on
concerns of product availability, according to cash market sources. Also
giving gasoline a leg up was a 1.778-million-barrels draw last week in U.S.
gasoline stocks as reported in weekly inventory data from the API, which also
showed gasoline demand at a scorching 8.9 million barrels a day. The DOE
reported a smaller, though still significant, 1.1-million-barrels draw.
"People's expectations for gasoline have been depressed lately. This gasoline
report came as a surprise," said a trader at a major oil firm.
October heating oil gained 0.25 cent to go off the board at 42.11 cents
a gallon.
November natural gas gained 8.6 cents to settle at $2.433 per million
BTUs.
On New York's Commodities Exchange, December gold rose $2.10 to settle
at $299.00 an ounce. Gold became more attractive as global stock markets fell
sharply Wednesday amid investor disappointment that the U.S. Federal Reserve
wasn't more aggressive in cutting short-term interest rates the previous day.
Gold was fixed Wednesday afternoon in London at $293.85 an ounce, down 25
cents from the morning fixing.
December silver futures ended unchanged at $5.360 an ounce, amid an
891,200 ounce stock increase in Comex silver stocks. Silver stocks in Comex
warehouses fell last week by almost five million ounces.
October platinum climbed $6.20 to end at $353.40 per ounce, boosted by
speculative buying as the metal, believed to be of Russian origin, was being
sold into the market by producers, traders said.
Among industrial metals, December copper fell 1.55 cents to settle at
73.75 cents per pound.
Among grains in Chicago:
December wheat tumbled 7 1/2 cents to settle at $2.69 1/4 per bushel.
December corn dropped 2 3/4 cents to end at $2.09 a bushel.
December oats slipped 1/2 cent to settle at $1.12 per bushel.
November soybeans declined 6 1/2 cents to settle at $5.20 3/4 a bushel,
as a large soybean crop was further pressured by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's quarterly grain stocks report. The USDA estimated Sept. 1
soybean stocks at 200 million bushels, up 52% from the year-ago level.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires ahead of the report estimated the
figure at 193 million bushels on average.
The USDA estimated Sept. 1 corn stocks at 1.31 billion bushels, up 48%
from a year earlier but below most expectations. It estimated wheat stocks at
2.38 billion bushels, the highest Sept. 1 level since 1990.
In the livestock complex:
December cattle fell 0.20 cent to settle at 61.75 cents per pound.
December hogs dipped 0.55 cent to end at 40.40 cents per pound.
February pork bellies dropped 0.83 cent to settle at 47.20 cents per
pound.
Among food and fiber futures in New York:
December coffee dipped 0.55 cent to settle at 105.15 cents per pound.
December cotton rose 0.66 cent to end at 73.57 cents per pound.
March sugar rose 0.12 cent to settle at 7.65 cents per pound.
November orange juice slipped 0.15 cent to end at 100.00 cents per
pound.
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All Rights Reserved.
09/30 2:59p CDT
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