Prices Fall for Metals, Oil as Crop Prices Recover

Prices for metals and oil dropped Tuesday, while key crops recovered some of their losses from the previous day.

The biggest moves were in palladium, which lost more than 2 percent, and platinum, which lost nearly 2 percent. Both can trade as industrial metals, meaning they generally rise when investors feel hopeful about the economy. Their decline was a schism from the U.S. stock market, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 15,000 for the first time.

Palladium for June delivery fell $16.50 to $680.60 per ounce. July platinum lost $26.50 to $1,481.20 per ounce.

June gold was down more than 1 percent, losing $19.20 to $1,448.80 per ounce. July silver lost 14.9 cents to $23.806 per ounce. July copper slipped 0.8 cents to $3.3025 per pound.

Benchmark oil for June delivery fell 54 cents to finish at $95.62 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is the benchmark for international oil varieties, fell $1.06 to $104.40 per barrel in London.

Prices for key crops rose slightly, after falling Monday. Wheat was up 6.25 cents, about 1 percent, to $7.09 per bushel. Soybeans were also up about 1 percent, rising 13 cents to $13.8225. Corn edged up 3.5 cents to $6.40 a bushel. All are still down for the week, including a 9 percent decline in corn.

This article appeared in print in the May 9th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.