Oil and Natural Gas Traded up on Wednesday–Recap July 18th

The energy commodities traded up yesterday following the positive news of the rise in housing starts. Crude oil prices including WTI and Brent rose for the fifth consecutive day; natural gas Henry Hub (August delivery) and spot price also rose. gold and silver rates declined for the third consecutive day. The Euro slightly decreased against the USD. Several other currencies rates including the Aussie dollar rose against USD.

Here is a summary of the daily changes in precious metals and energy commodities for July 18th, 2012:

Forex and Bullion Markets:

Gold declined by 1.18% to $1,570.8; Silver also fell by 0.81% and reached $27.1. During July, gold decreased by 2.08% and silver by 1.87%.

The Euro/USD edged down by 0.09% to 1.2283; alternatively, the U.S Dollar declined against several currencies such as Aussie dollar by 0.47%.

Energy Commodities:

WTI oil price increased again yesterday by 0.73% to $89.87 per barrel;

Brent oil also rose by 1.83% to $106.58 per barrel;

Following these changes, the gap between Brent and WTI slipped to $16.71/bbl. During the month, WTI increased by 5.78% and Brent oil by 9.9%.

Finally, the Henry Hub future (August delivery) hiked by 6.81% to $2.98/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot also increased to $2.85/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future reached $0.13, Contango.

A Summary for July 18th:

The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:

 Gold Silver Crude oil Natural gas 2012 July 18

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