Corn Regains Some of Its Losses; Oil, Copper Rise

Key commodities prices were mixed Monday. Oil prices climbed, while precious metals slipped.

Traders are waiting for more information to decipher the state of the economy, including company earnings season, which started Monday, and the Federal Reserve’s latest pronouncement on the economy, which will come Wednesday.

Gold for June delivery edged down, losing $3.40 to $1,572.50 per ounce. May silver was also down slightly, losing 8.2 cents to $27.138 per ounce.

Industrial metals rose. May copper rose 2.7 cents to $3.371 per pound. June palladium rose $5.90 to $729.80 per ounce. July platinum edged up $1.50 to $1,537 per ounce.

Most energy stocks were up.

Benchmark oil for May delivery rose 66 cents to $93.36 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which sets the price of oil used by many U.S. refineries to make gasoline, rose 54 cents to $104.66 in London. Heating oil rose four cents to $2.95 per gallon. Wholesale gasoline rose five cents to $2.91 per gallon.

Natural gas was the outlier, falling four cents to $4.08 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Key agricultural commodities were up.

Corn rose 4.5 cents to $6.335 per bushel. It’s still far below the $7.3525 price it hit a week-and-a-half ago, just before the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that corn inventories are higher than expected and that farmers intend to plant the most corn in almost 80 years. That increase in supply led many traders to push corn’s price lower.

Wheat was up nearly two percent, rising 13.5 cents to $7.125 per bushel. Soybeans were up more than one percent, rising 16.25 cents to $13.78 per bushel.