Crude oil again above $73 per barrel

Crude oil prices were up on Thursday for the seventh straight session amid data showing that US gasoline consumption is at 9.45 million barrels per day, an indication that high pump prices are not cutting into demand. Brent crude for August delivery gained $1.50 to $72.91 per barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange in London. August contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude added $1.21 to $73.40 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile, Nymex unleaded gasoline July contracts were up 6.7 cents to $2.2700 per gallon.

Precious metals were up on Thursday, as well. Gold gained 1.6 percent to $588.80 per troy ounce after going as high as $591.80 during the day. Silver was up 2.6 percent to $10.45 per troy ounce. Palladium advanced by 0.6 percent to $309 per troy ounce, while platinum added 0.8 percent to $1,193 per troy ounce.

Copper gained 3.6 percent to $7.335 per tonne, but traders held that price changes for base metals were exaggerated due to low trade volumes. Zinc was up 5.6 percent to $3,305 per tonne as stockpiles in London Metal Exchange warehouses dropped by 1,775 tonnes.

While nickel inventories in LME warehouses were up by 198 tonnes, the price of nickel still gained 3.3 percent to $21,075 per tonne. Despite the increase in nickel stockpiles, global inventories are down by 60 percent this year and are currently at only 3 days of global consumption.

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