Silver Market Update

May silver SIK5, +3.79%  jumped 76.9 cents, or 4.8%, to end at $16.883 an ounce, with prices around 9% higher for the week.

May copper HGK5, +3.42%  added 10.1 cents, or 3.8%, to $2.761 a pound—up roughly 3.5% for the week.

Gasoline Market Update

Nymex April gasoline RBJ5, +0.82% rose 2.4 cents, or 1.3%, to $1.798 a gallon, up 2% for the week. April heating oil HOJ5, +0.36%  ended at $1.734 a gallon, up 1.2 cents, or 0.7%, with prices up 1.2% for the week.

Gas Market Update

April natural gas NGJ15, -1.03%  fell 2.7 cents, or 1%, to $2.786 per million British thermal units after earlier tapping a high of $2.919 on the back of gains in oil. Prices were up roughly 2.2% for the week.

Oil futures score first weekly gain in over a month

Crude-oil futures rallied Friday as a drop in the U.S. dollar and another decline in U.S. rig counts helped prices score their first weekly gain in five weeks.

April CLJ5, +4.34% which expired at the close Friday, settled at $45.72 a barrel, up $1.76, or 4%. Crude for May CLK5, +2.02%  delivery, which became the front month, tacked on $1.04, or 2.3%, to $46.57 a barrel.

Silver Market Update

May silver SIK5, -0.02%  rallied 57.3 cents, or 3.7%, to end at $16.114 an ounce, which was also a two-week high.

April platinum PLJ5, +0.23%  rose $27, or 2.5%, to end at $1,119.60 an ounce.

 June palladium PAM5, +0.37%  rose $1.15, or 0.2%, to $765.80 an ounce.

May copper HGK5, -0.23%  jumped nearly 9 cents, or 3.5%, to $2.66 a pound after posting losses over the past two sessions.

Gasoline Market Update

April gasoline RBJ5, -0.08% fell 2.5 cents, or 1.4%, to $1.774 a gallon.

April heating oil HOJ5, +0.00%  ended at $1.722 a gallon, down 5 cents, or 2.8%.

Gas Market Update

April natural gas NGJ15, +0.82%  fell 10.7 cents, or 3.7%, to end at $2.813 per million British thermal units.

Oil futures settle at third lowest level of the year

Oil futures saw their third lowest settlement of the year on Thursday as traders fretted over record U.S. supplies and failed to see any real indications that crude output is headed for a significant decline.

Crude for delivery in April CLJ5, -0.14%  settled at $43.96 a barrel, down 70 cents, or 1.6%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, giving up much of the 2.8% gain it scored a day earlier.

Platinum Market Update

 April platinum PLJ5, +0.26%  rose 30 cents to end at $1,115.20 an ounce.

 June palladium PAM5, +0.90%  tacked on $1.75, or 0.2%, to $788.70 an ounce. 

Copper was the only major metal on Comex to gain for the week. May copper HGK5, +0.56%  settled at $2.6635 a pound, up a half cent for the session to tally a gain of roughly 2.2% for the week.

Silver Market Update

May silver SIK5, +0.80%  fell 2.2 cents, or 0.1%, to $15.494 an ounce — nearly 2% lower for the week.

April heating oil HOJ5, -3.75% fell 6.6 cents, or 3.7%, to $1.713 a gallon, down over 8% for the week.

April natural gas NGJ15, -0.48%  fell less than a cent to $2.727 per million British thermal units. It saw a weekly decline of nearly 4%.

Gasoline Market Update

Nymex gasoline for April delivery RBJ5, -2.96%  fell 4.7 cents, or 2.6%, to $1.762 a gallon, poised for a loss of more than 6% for the week. 

Oil futures suffer nearly 10% weekly plunge

Oil futures fell sharply on Friday, to tally a weekly decline of nearly 10%, as a monthly report from the International Energy Agency raised concerns that the glut of crude supplies and tightening storage capacity in the U.S. may cause prices to weaken further.

Crude-oil for delivery in April CLJ5, -4.36%  fell $2.21, or 4.7%, to settle at $44.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices ended the week with a loss of 9.6%.

April Brent crude LCOJ5, -4.38%  on London’s ICE Futures exchange shed $2.41, or 4.2%, to settle at $54.67 a barrel, with the front-month contract down 8.5% for the week.

Gas Market Update

April natural gas NGJ15, -1.54%  settled at $2.734 per million British thermal units, down 9 cents, or 3.2%.

Gasoline Market Update

April gasoline RBJ5, -0.69% fell 1.7 cents, or 0.9%, to $1.81 a gallon, while April heating oil HOJ5, -0.24%  settled at $1.779 a gallon, down 4.1 cents, or 2.3%.

Silver Market Update

May silver SIK5, +0.38% settled at $15.516 an ounce, up 15 cents, or 1%.

May copper HGK5, +0.28%  rose 5.3 cents, or 2%, to end at $2.659 a pound.

April platinum PLJ5, +0.39%  shed 50 cents to $1,114.90 an ounce, 

June palladium PAM5, +1.21% fell back by $2.45, or 0.3%, to $786.95 an ounce.

Oil settles at a six-week low near $47 a barrel

Oil futures settled near $47 a barrel on Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate prices marking their lowest settlement since late January following a ninth straight weekly increase in U.S. supplies.

Crude for delivery in April CLJ5, +0.17%  settled at $47.05 a barrel, down $1.12, or 2.3%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices haven’t settled this low since Jan. 29, based on the most-active contracts.

April Brent crude LCOJ5, +0.30%  on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 46 cents, or 0.8%, to $57.08 a barrel after finding support earlier from ongoing violence by Islamic State militants in Iraq.

Why copper can’t reclaim its role as leading indicator

Copper started losing its Ph.D. in U.S. economics and equities two years ago.

But the metal has lost more of its expertise over the last two years. Futures prices for copper HGK5, +0.60%  dropped of 17% in 2014 and lost 7% in 2013. 

Platinum Market Update

April platinum PLJ5, -1.68%  finished at $1,158.80 an ounce, down $21.30, or 1.8%. 

Gold is down 2.3% on the week, while June palladium PAM5, -0.67%  fell $6.90, or 0.8%, to $818.15 an ounce, losing 0.2% for the week. 


May copper HGK5, -1.56%  declined by 4.4 cents, or 1.6%, to $2.609 a pound, for a loss of 3.1% for the week.

Silver Market Update

May silver SIK5, -1.44% lost 35.1 cents, or 2.2%, to settle at $15.807 an ounce. For the week, prices were down 4.5%.

Gas Market Update

April natural gas NGJ15, +0.28%  settled at $2.839 per million British thermal units, nearly flat for the session, with prices still trading around 3% higher for the week.