Prices fell early amid the release of data revealing stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange moved to 138,650 metric tons. This is an increase of 3,025 tons, or 2.2%, the highest since late May. Copper began to rise sharply about 11:30 a.m. to erase those losses as well as the drop from Tuesday`s session. The U.S. stock market enjoyed a strong day, pushed by energy and technology stocks.
Meanwhile, after closing lower in the two previous sessions, the price of gold regained some ground during trading on Wednesday. Gold for December delivery closed up $1.90 at $675.40 an ounce, although it was well off its best level of the day. The price of gold showed a notable upward move in early trading, reaching a high of $678.20 an ounce after falling $3 an ounce over the past two days. The rebound was partly due to bargain hunting along with some strength in the stock markets.
The U.S. dollar continued to see weakness throughout the morning against both the euro and sterling. Gold usually moves in the opposite direction as the dollar. The greenback`s weakness also helped the price of silver, which gained 8 cents to move at $11.845. Overall, silver has been range-bound for 12 days.
The economic calendar was light in the U.S. on Wednesday. Traders are looking ahead to several key reports on Thursday. Included on the schedule will be GDP price index data for the second quarter as well as weekly jobless claims figures. Friday will bring the release of PCE deflator data.
Crude oil prices surged after the Energy Information Administration released its report on U.S. oil inventories in the week ended August 24 on Wednesday, showing that crude oil and gasoline inventories fell by much more than analysts had expected. Crude for October delivery closed up $1.78 at $73.51 a barrel, more than offsetting the modest price decrease that was seen in the previous session. The rally helped oil erase the losses it saw on Tuesday when it snapped a streak of four straight winning sessions.
The EIA`s weekly inventory report showed that crude oil inventories fell by 3.49 million barrels following an unexpected increase of 1.89 million barrels in the previous week. Analysts had been expecting a much more modest decline of about 1 million barrels. Gasoline inventories also showed a notable decrease, falling by 3.67 million barrels after falling by 5.71 million barrels in the week ended August 17. The decrease far exceeded analyst estimates of a drop of less than 1 million barrels.
Meanwhile, the price of natural gas ended the session in negative territory after posting a notable gain in the previous session. Natural gas for September delivery closed down $0.163 at $5.43 per million BTUs.
Among agriculture commodities, corn, soybeans and rough rice moved lower. While wheat and ethanol moved higher. On the New York Board of Trade, cocoa, cotton and orange juice gained for the day, while sugar and coffee prices fell.
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