Commodities: OPEC's Barkindo denies Saudi Arabia threatened to raise output

Commodities were weaker nearly across the board at the end of the week, although energy was by far the softest segment of the market.

Front month Brent crude futures lost 2.05% to trade at $45.40 per barrel on the ICE after Reuters reported that at a meeting held during the previous week Saudi Arabia had told Iran it could increase output "steeply" if Tehran refused to limit its supply.

That was denied by the Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Mohammed Barkindo, according to whom Saudi officials' contribution, at the technical meeting held in Vienna on 28 October, "as usual were constructive".

In other news, after the close of trading in London Baker Hughes reported that the number of US on-shore oil rigs increased by nine week-on-week over the seven days ending on 4 November, hitting 450, although they remained 122 below their levels of a year ago.

NYMEX-traded RBOB gasoline was especially weak, losing 3.34% to $1.3769 per gallon, while December natural gas futures Stateside managed to eke out a small advance, rising 0.33% to $2.78/MMBtu.

Acting as a backdrop, the US dollar spot index was off by 0.07% to 97.08, amid political uncertainty in the States ahead of the 8 November presidential elections.

In parallel, the Bloomberg commodity index was down by 0.39% to 83.28.

Weakness in gold and silver futures despite the poor tone to trading in the Greenback and the increasingly tense political environment caught the attention of some traders, although the daily variations were slight.

Chris Beauchamp attributed the move in gold to its "rapid move" above the $1,300 mark over the past week, adding that a victory by US presidential canidate Donald Trump sould see the rally extend.

Copper futures on the other hand were managing to swim against the tide, tacking on 0.49% to change hands at $2.26 a pound on COMEX.

Agricultural commodities were mixed, with cocoa futures on ICE retreating by 3.84% to $2,532.00 a metric tonne, but corn and wheat futures trading slightly higher on the day.