Commodities Continue to Surge: Oil Hits $110 for First Time

Commodity News Around the Web


Gas Prices Jump, Oil Hits $110

Gasoline and oil prices extended their record-setting streaks Wednesday, with gas at the pump reaching a new high of nearly $3.25 and crude surpassing $110 for the first time.

The gains came as a weakening dollar led investors to shrug off an Energy Department report that crude oil and gasoline supplies jumped last week.

=====

Dollar Falls to Record Low Against Euro

Euro Tops $1.55 for the First Time With Broad Skepticism About Fed Plan to Support Markets

The dollar fell against most major currencies on Wednesday, including a new low against the euro, which fetched $1.55, as skepticism grew over the latest U.S. Federal Reserve Bank plan to restore calm to jittery global credit markets.

=====

New S&P Currency Indexes Cover Renminbi And Rupee

Standard & Poor's has two currency indexes linked to two of the world's hottest emerging markets. The S&P Chinese Renminbi Index and the S&P Indian Rupee Index are the first members of a full family of similar indexes that S&P is launching; the S&P Currency Beta Series will include indexes both for individual currencies and groups of currencies. They were created for use as hedging and measurement tools.

=====

U.S. dollar sinks as Jordan says sell

The U.S. dollar has hit yet another record low against the Euro, after Jordanian central bank officials talked of reducing U.S. dollar reserves and figures showed Japan's economy is performing better than expected.

The Euro was buying US$1.5540 at 3:30 PM ET Friday, the strongest rate ever against the greenback since the Euro debuted in 1999. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of major currencies, also slipped to a record low of 72.47. The Canadian dollar was slightly higher than yesterday's close at US$1.01.

=====

COMMODITIES-Rally plows ahead as oil crosses $110; wheat up


The powerful bull run in key commodities showed little fatigue on Wednesday as oil closed up after hitting a record above $110 per barrel and wheat settled higher after rallying for a second straight day.

Metals also ended in the positive, with copper [COP/X] rising more than 1 percent after losses in two earlier sessions, and gold [GOL/X] repeating Tuesday's modest gains.

Sugar [SUG/N] and cocoa [COC/N] closed down, along with corn and soybeans. But cotton [COT/N] showed surprising resilience, closing up after hitting limit-down.

Leading commodity indexes such as the Reuters-Jefferies CRB .CRB, the S&P GSCI .SPGSCI and the Dow Jones-AIG .DJAIG ended higher too.

=====