Commodities: Crude careens to lows on glut fears as gold surges

Crude oil futures are firmly under the hammer as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices careen to three-month lows on global glut fears, while gold again shot up on dollar weakness and its safe-haven appeal.

At about 15:26 BST, Nymex-quoted WTI crude was down 0.85% to $40.79 a barrel. Intercontinental Exchange-traded Brent was down 1.64% to $42.00 a barrel.

FXTM Research analyst Lukman Otunuga said WTI's slip-slide south was due to elevated concerns over the excessive oversupply of oil, sparking a round of selling.

"This week's unexpected build in both crude and gasoline inventories rekindled fears over the excessive supply," Otunuga said in note.

"The returning supply from the previous disruptions have sabotaged any real recovery in value," he said, adding trader sentiment towards Texas tea was firmly bearish.

Meantime, on Comex, gold was up 0.78% to $1351.6 an ounce, with silver rising 0.34% to $20.26 and copper falling 0.07% to $220.75 a pound.

SwissQuote said that the yellow metal has finally broken out of its summer malaise to test the resistance area defined by $1339 and $1345, which suggested a bullish bias.

"A break of these levels is needed to open the way for a second leg higher," SwissQuote analysts said in a research note.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, added that gold was in the midst of a bullish flag back towards hights of $1375, fuelled by risk aversion and equities turning over.

Three-month prices for industrial metals such as copper, aluminium, zinc and tin were firmly ahead on London Metals Exchange on Friday afternoon.

Among agricultural futures traded on Chicago Board of Trade, corn was up 0.37% to $340 a bushel and wheat fell 1.34% to $404.75 a bushel.

ICE-priced cocoa was flat at $2850 a MT, while cotton No.2 slipped 45% to $72.71 a pound. Live cattle was down 0.51% to $111.53 a pound.