Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Commodities Take a Beating on Stonger U.S. Dollar, Oil Sell-off


Investors are moving out of commodities into equities, as the U.S. dollar continues to climb, and investors sell their positions in crude oil.

Crude dropped by up to $4 a barrel today, causing a drop in gold, silver, copper, soybeans and wheat prices, with corn traded higher, finishing at $6.135 a bushel on the CBOT.

Concerns over skyrocketing commodity prices had many analysts looking for this to happen, as it would eventually have to have a significant impact on demand, which it is increasingly revealing is happening.

Gold investors are wary that the price doesn't drop below the psychological barrier of $900, which could trigger even more sell-offs in the yellow metal, which could cause it to plunge in price. Even the $915 mark could do that. It now stands at $916.50 as of this writing. It dropped as low as $913.10.

The September delivery of light, sweet crude fell $2.54, to finish at $122.19 on the Nymex. That's the lowest since June 10. Since its high of $147.27 on July 11, oil has declined by $25 a barrel.

The migration of money to stocks helped lift the DJIA by 266 points.

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