Commodities markets summary
A summary of trading in key commodities markets overseas:
ENERGY
Oil prices have dropped, resuming a downward tilt due to concerns about a mismatch between lofty petroleum supplies and tepid demand growth.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery fell 56 cents to $92.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
European benchmark Brent oil for October delivery shed 97 cents to $97.11 a barrel in London, its lowest closing price since June 2012.
Friday's drop resumed a trend in September towards lower prices that was interrupted by a rally Thursday.
"The US is essentially drowning itself with oil and the demand is not solid enough," said Oliver Sloup, director of managed futures at iiTrader.
Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citi Futures, said the drop in Brent reflects "ongoing worries that global demand growth has slowed".
Leading energy forecasters including the International Energy Agency this week trimmed their oil demand forecasts due to weak economic conditions in China and Europe.
Oil traders were discounting positive news, such as a solid 0.6 per cent gain in US retail sales in August, Evans said.
"The failure to rally on bullish news confirms that bearish market sentiment continues to dominate," he said.
PRECIOUS METALS
Gold prices ended Friday at the lowest level in eight months as the dollar continued its advance against other currencies.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, fell $7.50, or 0.6 per cent, to $1,231.50 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. This was the lowest settlement since January 9.
Gold prices slumped 2.8 per cent this week as the ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of other currencies, vaulted to a 13-month high.
The greenback made fresh advances against both the euro and the yen, climbing close to a six-year high against Japan's currency on Friday.
"The precious metals complex is just completely falling apart, and a lot of it is attributable to the stronger dollar and that interest rates will be higher in the coming months," said John Payne, senior market analyst with Daniels Trading in Chicago.
Gold is traded in dollars and becomes more expensive for investors who use other currencies to fund their purchases, deterring those buyers from the market.
BASE METALS
Copper futures edged higher on Friday as signs of improvement in the US and European economies helped offset pressure from a stronger dollar.
The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, rose 1.40 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to settle at $3.1065 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Thomson-Reuters/University of Michigan mid-September sentiment index rose to 84.6, its highest level since July 2013, in a sign that consumers are increasingly optimistic about the economy.
Meanwhile, eurozone industrial production rose 1 per cent in July from a month earlier, beating economists' expectations of a 0.6 per cent increase.
Copper is widely used across a myriad of everyday goods like phones, laptops, microwaves, plumbing and farm equipment, and prices of the metal are sensitive to shifts in the outlook for growth.
The US and Europe are large copper consumers, but lag top copper buyer China. Still, investors follow economic data from both countries for clues about future metal demand.
