Prices for crude oil and most metals end higher
Prices for crude oil and most metals end higher; wheat and soybean futures fall
Crude oil, gold and other metals prices ended higher Wednesday, while natural gas and wheat futures fell.
U.S. benchmark oil for June delivery rose $2.25 to finish at $91.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Traders sent the price of oil higher as expectations built for a rate cut next week from the European Central Bank. That followed another weak business survey in Germany, Europe's biggest economy. Oil also rose after the U.S. Energy Department reported an increase in oil supplies that was smaller than analysts expected.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline rose 3 cents to $2.75 per gallon, heating oil added 3 cents to $2.84 a gallon and natural gas fell 7 cents to $4.17 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold for June delivery rose $14.90 to $1,423.70 an ounce. Most other metals prices also rose, except palladium.
Silver for May delivery added 1.6 cents to settle at $22.833 an ounce. May copper rose 6.4 cents to $3.157 a pound.
July platinum rose $13 to $1,430.80 an ounce and June palladium fell $5.70 to $667.65 an ounce.
Wheat and soybean futures fell, while corn rose.
July wheat lost 3.5 cents to $6.920 a bushel, July corn rose 4.25 cents to $6.1825 a bushel and July soybeans fell 13.25 cents to $13.4525 a bushel.
