Oil mixed on Iran comments

US crude oil prices were up early in the day but dropped later after investors seemed not to be bothered by comments from Iran’s chief negotiator which reiterated that nation’s intentions to make nuclear fuel. He said that Iran is interested in negotiations and blamed the US for trying to prevent such talks from going on.

September contracts for Brent crude were up, but only by 6 cents to $73.96 per barrel in London. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate Crude for August delivery was 11 cents lower to $72.55 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. With August contracts due to expire at the end of the trading day, attention turned to September WTI contracts, which dropped 17 cents to $74.60 per barrel.

Elsewhere, a Nymex analyst said that recent surges in crude oil prices have motivated more dealers to take out options protecting against oil prices going to $100 per barrel or higher. The interest in such options, it was said, began about a year ago but had been growing in recent months.

Gold prices were 0.1 percent higher to $642.60 per troy ounce as the US dollar weakened again. Silver added 0.3 percent to $11.20 per troy ounce. Platinum and palladium were each slightly higher as well.

Among base metals, copper was 6 percent lower to $7,330 per tonne as negotiations to avoid a strike at the world’s largest copper mine began. Nickel prices also declined, by 2.9 percent to $23,300 per tonne, even though inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses were down again. Zinc inventories also declined, but prices were down by 5.2 percent to $3,165 per tonne.

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