Gold prices fell on Friday and the week, oil, copper, silver, and iron ore were all mixed as the US dollar firmed.
In fact, the greenback ended with a gain of around 0.7% against a basket of half a dozen major currencies.
That gain saw the Aussie dollar end under 71 US cents at 70.80, down 0.40 cents over the week.
Comex December gold settled down 0.1% at $US1906.40 an ounce on Friday after rising less than 0.1% on Thursday.
Prices touched an intraday low of $1,892.70 on Thursday, highlighting fitful trade for bullion which now seems to be drifting as investors await the results of the uS elections on November 3.
Comex silver for December delivery meanwhile, rose 18 cents, or nearly 0.8%, to settle at $US24.405 an ounce, after a 0.7% decline in the previous day
For the week gold saw a 1% fall-based on FactSet data. That followed gains in each of the previous two weeks. Silver lost 2.8% over the week.
Comex December copper fell by 0.6% to settle at $US3.0675 a pound, down around 0.5% lower for the week.
The price of 62% FeFe fines delivered to northern China rose 38 cents on Friday to end the week at $US119.08 a tonne, down around 5% ($US6.68) from the previous week’s $US125.75.
Meanwhile, oil prices fell for the session on Friday, but notched up a small gain for the week, despite another rise in the number of active US oil rigs.
The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee, or JMMC, which monitors member countries’ compliance with the current production cuts, is scheduled to meet later today (online) to discuss the state of the cuts.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery fell 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $US40.88 a barrel in New York. Prices for the front-month contract, which expires tomorrow’s settlement, rose 0.7%.
December Brent crude lost 23 cents, or 0.5% on Friday, to $US42.93 a barrel in Europe. Brent edged up 0.2% over the week.
Traders had little reaction Friday to data from Baker Hughes, showing a fourth straight weekly increase in the number of active US oil rigs. The number of active US rigs drilling for oil rose by 12 to 205 this week. That’s the biggest rise since January and the highest total since June.
The total number of rigs (including gas) rose 1 to 282.
The total rig count fell to a record low of 244 rigs during the week ended August 14, while the oil rig count alone fell to a 15-year low at 172 in the same week, according to Baker Hughes.
