Key Metals, Crops Flounder, Taking Cue From Stocks

Prices for key metals and crops were little changed on Friday, following the same pattern as U.S. stocks.

Among metals, gold and palladium fell slightly, and copper and platinum edged higher. The exception was silver, which bounced up 1.5 percent.

Gold for December delivery slipped 70 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $1,310.50 per ounce. September palladium fell $2.15 to $729.70 per ounce.

October platinum gained $7.70 to $1,451.50 per ounce, and September copper was up 0.65 cents to $3.1725 per pound.

September silver zipped up 28.8 cents to $19.912 per ounce.

Crops were mixed. Wheat edged up 2.5 cents to $6.605 per bushel. Soybeans lost 11 cents, or nearly 1 percent, to $11.815. Corn slipped 3.25 cents to $4.6375.

U.S. stocks barely budged; traders were disappointed after the government reported that the U.S. added fewer jobs than expected last month.