Metals, oil drop slightly

Crude oil and some metals prices were slightly lower on Tuesday in what analysts called a consolidation.

Silver was a bit higher, trading at $11.77 per troy ounce, but analysts questioned the claims by some traders that its price could go as high as $15 per troy ounce soon.

Gold dropped to $586.40 per troy ounce after hitting a 25-year peak of $591.50 per troy ounce on Monday.

Copper was down to $5,553 per tonne after reaching a new high of $5,616 per tonne on Monday. The decline came even though it was reported that inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses had dropped by 4,500 tonnes.

Zinc dropped by 1.8 percent to $2,690 per tonne after having reached a new record of $2,750 per tonne during the day.

Three-month nickel dropped 0.9 percent to $15,850 per tonne. The decline came after the owner of a nickel mine in New Guinea said that vandalism by local opponents of the mine would cost $10 million to repair. There was not estimate of when the mine might be repaired and reopened.

Crude oil prices were also down on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s weekly report on US inventories. Analysts believe that crude oil stockpiles will increase by 900,000 barrels, while gasoline inventories are expected to be up by 1.8 million barrels.

Brent crude for May delivery dropped 89 cents to $65.95 per barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange. Meanwhile, May contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude lost 94 cents to $65.80 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Nymex gasoline futures for May gained 18 cents to $1.8650 per gallon after a warning from Merrill Lynch that gasoline prices in the US could reach $2.40 per gallon, or $100 per barrel, by summer due to higher demand in the face of low domestic output and dropping inventories and imports.

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