NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Gold futures climbed and moved above $900 an ounce Thursday, as rising prices have brought in more buyers thinking gold prices will continue to increase.
August gold rose $10.70 to settle at $904.20 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"They're just getting a little momentum play going here," said Frank Lesh, broker and futures analyst with Future Path Trading.
New longs were entering the market on overall high oil prices, a trading floor participant said.
In other metals trading, July silver rose 13 cents to settle at $17.47 an ounce, September palladium climbed $7.40 to $479.20 an ounce, but July platinum fell $36.10 to settle at $2,055.80 an ounce. Platinum futures declined as the metal may have become overbought and profit-taking set in, a trader said.
The most-active September copper contract rose 3.05 cents to settle at $3.7780 a pound. Copper came off the session's highs as Peru's government and local officials reached an agreement to end violent protests over mining profits in two southern regions that threatened to cut copper production.
While the recent surge in oil prices has helped metals, crude-oil futures fell Thursday after China said it would raise fuel prices, raising questions about the stamina of oil's record-breaking rally.
Oil's surge past $100 a barrel and, more generally, its multiyear march upward has been underpinned by the prospect of rising demand in China and the rest of Asia. Traders are worried that China's decision to increase the price of products such as gasoline and diesel could crimp its demand growth, although many analysts say consumption patterns in China aren't going to radically change overnight.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery settled $4.75, or 3.5%, lower at $131.93 a barrel on the Nymex. The front-month contract had fallen as low as $131.60. The August contract for Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled $4.44, or 3.3%, lower at $132 a barrel.
July gasoline settled 11.41 cents, or 3.3%, lower at $3.3526 a gallon. July heating oil settled 14.65 cents, or 3.8%, lower at $3.7135 a gallon.
Natural gas for July delivery tumbled 34.9 cents, or 2.64%, to finish at $ 12.861 a million British thermal units.
In grains trading, there were across-the-board sales in what was seen as a general retreat among the agricultural commodities.
July soybeans settled 10 1/2 cents lower at $15.45 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, and November soybeans ended 21 1/2 cents weaker lower at $15.21 1/2. July soymeal settled $2.40 lower at $419.50 per short ton. July soyoil finished 1.34 cents lower at 64.12 cents per pound.
Meanwhile, CBOT July wheat dropped 23 cents to $8.81 per bushel. Kansas City Board of Trade July wheat fell 15 1/4 cents to $9.30, and Minneapolis Grain Exchange July wheat was 5 cents lower at $10.90.
In corn futures trading, July corn fell 18 1/2 cents to $7.27 3/4 a bushel on the CBOT.
July rice futures slipped 30 cents to close at $20 per hundredweight on the CBOT, but had been as high as $20.45. The September contract dropped 29 cents to $19.40.
At ICE Futures U.S., July arabica coffee settled 0.30 cent higher at $1.3695 a pound, July world raw sugar futures finished 0.02 cent lower at 11.58 cents a pound, December cotton futures settled 1.98 cents weaker at 80.07 cents a pound, but most-active September cocoa settled $8 higher at $3,106 a metric ton.
-By Candace Cumberbatch, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5644
(END) Dow Jones Newswires 06-19-08 1739 Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
