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Oil leads commodity prices lower

AFP, London
Crude oil futures slid to sixmonth lows below 100 dollars this week and many other commodities fell as the dollar rallied and surveys pointed to lower demand for raw materials amid an economic slowdown.
Losses were reduced late on and some commodities even ended higher from a week earlier as the dollar gains were cut in the wake of weak US economic data released on Friday, traders said.
OIL: Oil prices tumbled under 97 dollars a barrel on Thursday, reaching the lowest levels since early March, as the dollar struck a year-high against the euro and on concerns about falling demand for energy.
Prices fought back early on Friday after Hurricane Ike had forced the closure of energy production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.
In a volatile week's trade, oil futures also briefly rose after Opec had on Wednesday decided to cut the cartel's production by more than 500,000 barrels a day.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces 40 percent of the world's oil, cut its output to prevent a further drop in crude prices, which have tumbled since striking record highs above 147 dollars a barrel in July. "It looks like they are willing to defend 100 dollars (as a floor)," Mike Wittner, an analyst at Society Gcnerale, commented following the move by Opec.
The dollar had meanwhile pushed the euro below 1.39 dollars, a 12-month trough, on growing recession fears in the eurozone. A strong dollar makes dollar-priced goods, such as oil, more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies.
A series of reports underlining weakening demand were meanwhile published this week. The US Department of Energy on Tuesday lowered its forecasts for 2009 global crude oil demand.
Then on Wednesday the DoE, in its weekly report on US energy stockpiles, said that demand for petroleum products in the United States, the world's largest consumer of crude oil, continued to fall and was now 3.8 percent below its level a year ago.
Gasoline (petrol) consumption declined 2.1 percent on a 12-month basis, a sharper decline than in previous weeks, while prices at the pump were far below their July peaks, the DoE said.
The International Energy Agency on Wednesday cut its estimate for demand growth this year by 100,000 barrels per day and for 2009 by 140,000 bpd.
Crude futures rebounded
on l-riday also after Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez threatened to halt the supply of oil to the United States, its main client, if Washington showed "aggression" towards his country
The threat came after Chavez had announced Thursday that US ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, had 72 hours to leave the country.
Venezuela's order to expel Duddy was an act of "solidarity" with Bolivia, which expelled its US envoy Philip Goldberg on Wednesday after accusing him of encouraging a break-up of Bolivia through support of opposition groups.
Deadly clashes in Bolivia have stoked fears of further widespread unrest and possibly even civil war.
By Friday, New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, was trading at 102.67 dollars a barrel, down from 106.93 dollars a week earlier.
Brent North Sea crude for October fell to 99.33 dollars a barrel from 105.33 dollars.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold prices dropped back under 800 dollars an ounce, striking the lowest point for almost one year, as the dollar strengthened.
Gold had Wednesday tumbled to 736.70 dollars, a level
last seen in October 2007.
"Lhe dollar's ongoing recovery put further pressure on the precious metals Thursday with gold declining to an 11-month low while silver tumbled to its lowest since June 2006," said James Moore at the bulliondesk.com.
Platinum unravelled to a 20-month low and palladium reached a trough not seen for almost three years.
On the London Bullion Market, gold slumped to 750.25 dollars per ounce at Friday's late fixing from 808.50 dollars a week earlier.
Silver fell to 12.52 dollars per ounce from 12.72 dollars.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum slid to 1,187 dollars per ounce at the late fixing on Friday from 1,387 dollars.
Palladium dropped to 241 dollars per ounce from 277 dollars.
BASE METALS: Base metals prices fell for most of the week but some managed a late rally as the dollar lost some of its spark as US retail sales data disappointed.
"We would view the price recovery as fragile and tenuous as sentiment remains weak," said analysts at Barclays Capital.
Base Metals analyst William Adams added: "This weakness is not confined to the base metals, all markets seem to be waking up to the fact that the
global economy faces a slowdown."
By Friday, copper for deliv-ery in three months rebounded to 7,075 dollars per tonne on the London Metal Exchange from 6,889 dollars a week earlier.
Three-month aluminium rose to 2,639 dollars per tonne from 2,595 dollars.
Three-month lead fell to 1,895 dollars per tonne from 1,936 dollars.
Three-month zinc climbed to 1,824 dollars per tonne from 1,780 dollars.
Three-month tin dropped to 19,150 dollars per tonne from 19,425 dollars.
Three-month nickel declined to 18,600 dollars per tonne from 20,226 dollars.
SUGAR: Sugar prices hit seven-week lows as oil prices continued to fall and as Brazil announced a large rise is sugar cane production.
Sugar is used in the production of ethanol, a cheaper alternative to motor fuel which is refined from crude oil. When crude futures fall, demand for ethanol also wanes.
By Friday on LIFFE, the price per tonne of white sugar for December delivery slipped to 384.70 pounds from 388.60 pounds the previous week.
On NYBOT, the price of unrefined sugar for October delivery decreased to 12.43 US cents per pound from 12.77 cents.