Written by Drew Voros  |

October 29, 2012

Market Wrap: Gold, Silver & Oil Fall As US Stock Markets Will Be Closed Again Tuesday

Details

U.S. bond and stock markets will be closed again Tuesday.

U.S. stock markets will be closed again Tuesday as Hurricane Sandy hits the East Coast of the United States. The storm closed markets on Monday as well.

Commodities trading will remain open. Comex futures will trade electronically as they did Monday; however, trading was light Monday and is expected to be so again Tuesday.

The exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and BATS, opted for a complete shutdown after contemplating allowing electronic trading venues to remain open for business. The NYSE in particular concluded that a partial shutdown might create more problems than it would solve, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal noted that the closures were the first unscheduled shutdowns of U.S. financial markets since the September 2001 terror attacks.

• Precious metals prices fell across the board. Gold dropped $2.58, or 0.15 percent, to $1708.72 while silver fell $0.345, or 1.08 percent, to $31.745. Platinum lost $11.01, or 0.71 percent, to $1533.99 and palladium shed $6.78, or 1.13 percent, to $591.22.
  
  Swiss-based LGT Capital Management said today, “Gold is still range-bound, lacking any upside drivers above $1,725 an ounce. The lower range of $1,700 is perceived as a good support.”

• Crude oil dropped today as refineries along the Eastern Seaboard closed down due to Hurricane Sandy, greatly curbing demand. Brent was last trading down by $0.15, or 0.14 percent, to $109.40, while WTI lost $0.99, or 1.15 percent, to $85.29.
  
  “The crude supply situation has improved, and high inventories are capping prices,” said Michael Poulsen, analyst at Denmark-based Global Risk Management, who predicts that Brent will trade from $105 to $110 a barrel next month. “But we should watch out for Super-Storm Sandy, as refineries are being shut while the storm rages.”

• Natural gas rose as the storm was seen increasing demand on the back of the cold and wet weather along the East Coast. Natural gas added $0.07, or 2.06 percent, to $3.47/mmbtu.

• The grain complex fell across the board as well on the heels of lower-than-expected exports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Corn was last trading down by $0.075, or 0.10 percent, to $7.37/bushel, while soybeans edged down by $0.34, or 2.18 percent, to $15.27 and wheat shed $0.0425, or 0.49 percent, to $8.60.
  
  
• Copper was last trading down by $0.0455, or 1.37 percent, to $3.50/lb on Comex.
  
  "LME copper is getting hammered by a general risk off mode due to political uncertainty," said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, partner at the metals consultancy T-Commodity.