Nymex October West Texas Intermediate hit $74.72 a barrel before easing back to trade 98 cents higher at $73.89, up 9.4 per cent this week.
ICE October Brent gained 86 cents at $74.19 a barrel, up 2.5 per cent this week, after touching $74.97 a barrel, below the 2009 peak of $76 reached in August.
The spread between WTI and Brent narrowed this week after US crude stocks dropped sharply, down 8.4m barrels, even though traders cautioned that the fall might be down to temporary delays in tanker arrivals.
US natural gas prices sank to a seven-year low amid concerns about a supply glut as stocks are on course to hit record levels before winter’s onset.
Nymex September Henry Hub dropped below the key level of $3 per million British thermal units, sinking to $2.862mBtu, down 11.6 per cent this week.
Sugar prices had a choppy week with weather reports from India and Brazil, the world’s two largest sugar producers, adding to fears about low global stocks and supply tightness. Over the week, ICE October raw sugar slid 0.3 per cent to 21.92 cents per pound, while Liffe October white sugar dipped 0.8 per cent to $548.7 a tonne.
Gold rose 1.6 per cent to $954 a troy ounce on Friday, helped by dollar weakness. Over the week, gold ranged between a low of $929.70 on Monday and a high of $957.65 on Friday, watching the dollar for direction.
Demand for the precious metal sank to a 5½-year low in the second quarter of 2009, according to the World Gold Council. Investment inflows remained strong, underlining gold’s appeal as an investment asset and portfolio diversifier, but jewellery demand fell by more than one fifth compared with the same period last year.
Among base metals, copper added 0.5 per cent at $6,275 a tonne this week, while aluminium lost 3 per cent at $1,930 a tonne.
