Commodities: Oil finds a bid as US oil rig count slips

Commodity prices were mostly lower on Monday, at least outside of the energy patch, with the Greenback edging up despite renewed criticism of US dollar strength from America's Commander-in-Chief himself.

As of 2041 GMT, the US dollar spot index was off its weakest levels of the day, adding 0.16% to 96.6850, while Bloomberg's commodity index wa 0.29% lower to 80.73.

At the weekend, US President Donald Trump said: "We have a gentleman that likes a very strong dollar at the Fed.

"I want a strong dollar, but I want a dollar that is great for our country not a dollar that is so strong that it is prohibitive for us to be dealing with other nations."

Helping oil futures, the latest weekly oil rig count conducted by Baker Hughes, the results of which were published on Friday, had revealed a drop of 10 in comparison to the week before to 843.

Reacting to those numbers, traders were pushing WTI for April delivery up by 1.25% to $56.50 a barrel on NYMEX, alongside a gain of 0.81% to $65.60 for May dated Brent.

In other news, according to three sources from the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries cited by Reuters, the cartel and its partners would most likely refrain from making any changes to their out policy when they next met in April, deferring it instead until June.

Meanwhile, base metals were down almost across the board, with three-month copper retreating from $6,466 per metric tonne at the open to finish the session at $6,409 and similarly-dated aluminium easing from $1,912 per tonne to $1,875.

Some traders cited technical resistance towards its 100-day moving average as a factor behind weakness in aluminium, also noting how China's National Peoples's Congress, which was set to kick-off on Tuesday, might see the assembly pare its growth target for the country's GDP down towards 6%.

Spot platinum was especially weak alongside, retreating 2.55% to $837.33/oz. on COMEX.

Among soft commodities, three-month ICE cocoa was again to be found at the bottom of the pile, erasing 2.75% to $2,156 per metric tonne.