The Bloomberg Commodity Index was down around 0.5% this morning amid falling crude oil and gasoline prices. S&P Global reports “Crude oil futures were lower in mid-morning trade in Asia Wednesday, extending the overnight downtrend, as selling pressure started to kick in amid heightened fears of the recent flu virus in China, which could have an indirect impact on oil demand, analysts said.”
In New York, NYMEX crude oil futures were down 2% to $57 per barrel in late morning trading, while COMEX copper futures dipped below $2.78 per pound. In London, LME 3-mo. copper and aluminum eased to around $6,110 and $1,810 per mt, respectively, while 3-mo. nickel traded as low as $13,505 per metric ton. Fastmarkets Metal Bulletin reports “Volatility has been a key feature of the LME nickel complex in recent months, with fresh inflows, fresh cancelations and strong price swings persisting into January.” In foreign exchange trading, the dollar was little changed this morning, with the euro buying $1.1085 and the British pound was trading around $1.313.
