Commodities: Gold and Bitcoin gain, even as WTI traders take some profits

Commodities were mostly higher outside of copper and the agricultural space.

As of 1040 GMT, Bloomberg's commodity index was slipping 0.11% to 86.90 as the US dollar spot index gained 0.13% o 92.90, having hit a low at 92.496 earlier in the session.

Commentary from multiple analysts at the start of the week highlighting the risks to China's property sector and corporate debt markets weighed on industrial metals.

More specifically, three-month LME copper retreated from $7,007 a metric tonne at the start of trading on Monday to finish $6,942, although analysts at Sucden Financial noted buying at around the $6,900 area, on the back of ongoing labour unrest in Peru.

In what was largely a risk-off session, at least outside the US, February gold on COMEX flirted with the pyschological $3,000/oz. mark, tacking on 0.55% to $1,298.90/oz..

Bitcoin was also approaching a psychological barrier, $10,000; although in the event it failed to breach that barrier, rising 2.3% to $9,541.05/oz..

Over in the energy patch, a 4.05% bounce in NYMEX natural gas futures for December delivery was offsetting a 1.39% drop in January West Texas Intermediate on the heels of the latest weekly US oil rig tally.

According to Baker Hughes, US drillers added nine oil rigs over the week to 22 November to reach 747, which was well up on the year earlier level of 474.

That was despite reports in the previous session that OPEC and Russia were set to announce an extension of their oil supply curbs at the cartel's 30 November ministerial meeting.

Soft commodities on the other hand were awahs in red, outside of the CME February live cattle contract, which was up by 1.18% to $1.2605 a pound.

March 2018 ICE-traded cocoa was weakest, losing 1.90% to $2,067 a pound.