Commodities: Agricultural futures strongest, gold higher as dollar dips

Agriculture was again the strongest segment of the market on Thursday, against a backdrop of slight US dollar weakness.

Against that backdrop, as of 1752 BST the July 2018 wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was higher by 1.19% at $5.33 a bushel, alongside advances of 1.07% to $2,843 per metric tonne for ICE-traded cocoa and of 1.86% to $1.0680 a pound for CME live cattle.

The weaker greenback also helped to put a bid into precious metals, with COMEX gold futures adding 0.60% to $1,313.40/oz., alongside a jump of 0.80% to $902.91/oz. for spot platinum.

Copper futures meanwhile were only slightly higher on COMEX, gaining 0.28% to $3.0770 a pound.

Over in the energy patch, prices were little changed, with WTI for next month delivery exactly flat at $67.93 a barrel on NYMEX.

Natural gas futures for June were the exception, retreating 1.56% to $2.71/MMBtu.

In the background, the US dollar spot index was off by just 0.05% at 92.46, alongside a dip of 0.06% to 89.44 for Bloomberg's commodity index.