Crude prices higher on politics; metals continue to rise

Published speculation over the weekend that the United States is thinking about a military move toward Iran helped send crude oil prices higher on Monday. European Union representatives, meanwhile, met during the day to consider less drastic measures - travel bans on Iranian officials and restrictions on what subjects Iranian students in Europe may study, for example - in response to Iran’s renewed nuclear program. Also affecting oil prices were new threats from Nigerian militants against oil facilities and workers there. Output from Nigerian facilities is still down by half a million barrels per day.

May delivery Brent crude prices on the International Petroleum Exchange were up 66 cents to $67.95 per barrel. Elsewhere, West Texas Intermediate crude May contracts gained 64 cents to $68.03 per barrel.

Uncertainties in Africa and the Middle East also pushed the price of gold higher, to $596.00 per troy ounce, as traders said that it was sure to rise above $600 per troy ounce soon. Analysts at Standard Bank said that a rise to $625 per troy ounce was inevitable.

Silver was at $12.42 per troy ounce during the day, up from Friday’s late New York price of $12.06/$12.09 per troy ounce.

In base metals, copper was up to $5,915 per tonne as inventories in London Metal Exchange registered warehouses fell to extremely low levels. Zinc found another new record high price at $2.915 per tonne, and aluminium was trading at $2,590 per tonne during the day.