Metals Rise Broadly; Crude Oil Near High for Year

Metals prices ended higher Friday, while crude oil jumped to its highest level since January.

Gold for August delivery rose $9.80 to $1,387.60 an ounce. Silver for July delivery rose 37.1 cents to $21.954 an ounce. July copper rose 1.65 cents to $3.2015 a pound. July platinum rose 30 cents to $1,447.40 an ounce, and September palladium rose 65 cents to $731.70 an ounce.

In energy trading, the price of crude oil reached its highest level since January, as Syria’s civil conflict escalated and raised concerns about supplies.

Benchmark oil for July delivery rose $1.16 to close at $97.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest close since Jan. 30. Oil finished the week up 1.9 percent.

President Barack Obama decided to provide some weapons to rebels fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad after the White House said it had convincing evidence that Assad’s regime had used chemical weapons against the opposition.

In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline rose 4 cents to finish at $2.90 a gallon, heating oil added 2 cents to end at $2.96 per gallon and natural gas fell 8 cents to finish at $3.73 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In agricultural trading, July wheat fell 4.75 cents to $6.8075 a bushel, July soybeans rose 6.25 cents to $15.165 a bushel and July corn rose 11.5 cents to $6.55 a bushel.