Precious metals hit their strongest levels of the year Thursday, although gold eventually gave back all of its gains due to a turn lower in crude oil and a rise in Treasury yields.
February gold settled a dime lower at $648.10 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver rose 21.7 cents to $13.49.
Fund buying occurred in both metals, reported Michael Gross, broker and futures analyst with Liberty Trading.
February gold peaked at $654.80 in screen trading, its most muscular levels since Dec. 1. March silver peaked at $13.60, its strongest levels since Dec. 15.
From there, however, gold slid back late in the day.
April platinum settled up $14.90 at $1,188 an ounce. March palladium gained $6.30 to $355.45 an ounce. April platinum posted an electronic high of $1,190.10 that was its strongest level since Nov. 30. March palladium got as high as $356.85 in screen trading, its strongest level since Sept. 7.
The most active March copper contract rose 5.30 cents to settle at $2.6545 per pound. Nearby January gained 5.10 cents to $2.6395.
The front-month March light, sweet crude contract settled down $1.14 at $54.23 a barrel.
February heating oil fell 3.48 cents to $1.5491 a gallon. Front-month gasoline fell 1.75 cents to $1.4441 a gallon.
February natural gas settled down 51.6 cents at $6.905 per million British thermal units.
On the New York Board of Trade, March Arabica coffee futures closed up 1.30 cents at $1.1695 a pound, with May up 1.30 cents at $1.2015.
Most-active March cocoa rose $3 to settle at $1,602 per metric ton, while May also added $3 to $1,634.
Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports slid to one-week lows after producer selling capped an early rise and selling from locals and small speculators pushed through Wednesday's low. March settled down 0.07 cent at 10.69 cents a pound, with May off 0.05 cent at 10.88 cents.
On the Chicago Board of Trade, March corn ended 6.25 cents higher at $4.07 cents per bushel, and December finished 1.50 cents higher at $3.9925.
March soybeans finished down 1.75 cents at $7.1325, and May soybeans closed down 2 cents at $7.2850 a bushel.
March wheat fell 14.25 cents to $4.66 a bushel.
