Friday December 3, 2010 Sydney Morning Herald
Oil prices hovered near $87 a barrel on Thursday, after a sharp rally the day before was powered by strong economic data from the US and China. In late afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark crude oil for January delivery was $1.14 higher at $US87.89 per barrel.
PRECIOUS METALS
February gold was $2.70 higher at $US1,391 per troy ounce. March silver was up 15.9 cents at $US28.572, and March palladium was $30.70 higher at $US763.
January platinum was up $32 at $US1,716 per troy ounce.
BASE METALS
Copper rose to three-week highs on Thursday, as upbeat US homes sales numbers stoked optimism after a recent raft of bullish data, and as the dollar fell versus the euro.
Supply concerns also boosted copper prices.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at $8,720 a tonne, from $8,585 on Wednesday.
The metal used in power and construction earlier hit a peak of $8,750 a tonne, up nearly two per cent and its highest since Nov. 12, within reach of the record $8,966 touched last month.
View etire story: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/oil-prices-hover-near-87-a-barrel-20101203-18ijb.html
