Commodities: US onshore oil rigs rise again, according to Baker Hughes
Trading in commodities was mixed, with even the different crude oil benchmarks on either side of the Atlantic diverging as figures published after the London close revealed another increase in the number of US onshore oil rigs in operation.
The number of US onshore oil rigs jumped by 11 to 522 during the week ending on 30 September, according to Baker Hughes.
That saw front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rise by 0.56% to $48.10 per barrel, even as the similarly-dated contract for Brent finished down by 0.37% to $49.06 a barrel.
Other energy futures Stateside were mixed, with NYMEX natural gas futures losing 1.49% to $2.92/MMBtu while RBOB gasoline jumped 1.40% to $1.4874 per gallon.
As of 2012 BST, Bloomberg's commodity index was edging higher by 0.14% to 85.34, as the US dollar spot index drifted slightly lower, slipping 0.14% to 95.45.
Gold failed to benefit from selling pressure on the greenback, with December 2016 COMEX futures down 0.50% to $1,319.40.
To take note of in that regard, a late-day IPSOS poll gave US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton a five-point lead over Donald Trump.
Bulk metals were generally comfortably higher, with three-month LME copper futures closing up by 0.4% to $4,864 per metric tonne.
Buyers had the upper hand in soft commodities, with corn futures rising 2.28% to $3.3675 a bushel.
Live cattle CME futures were a notable exception, bleeding 2.91% to $1.0013 a pound.