Crude oil up on talk of more production cuts

Crude oil prices were up during the day on Monday but not as much as might be expected after Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said over the weekend that OPEC will cut production again in December. He discounted the importance of price in the decision and emphasized the principle of balancing supply with demand.

January contracts for Brent crude were 16 cents higher to $60.19 per barrel. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery gained 63 cents to $59.89 per barrel.

Metals prices were mixed on Monday. Among precious metals, gold added 0.2 percent to $639.10 per troy ounce after going as high as $641.75 per troy ounce earlier in the day, while silver gained 0.4 percent to $13.41 per troy ounce. Platinum, however, dropped 3.8 percent to $1,140 per troy ounce on profit taking after gains last week.

Base metals prices were also mixed, as nickel ended the session higher but copper and zinc prices both dropped. Zinc dropped 0.6 percent to $4,485 per tonne. Meanwhile, the price of copper went as high as $7,240 per tonne on decline in inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses and on the news Friday that Hindalco of India suspended operations at one smelter because of a shortage of copper concentrate feed. Despite the news, copper ended the session 0.8 percent lower, to $7,095 per tonne. Nickel added 0.3 percent to $33,550 per tonne after the price went as high as $34,150 per tonne earlier.

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