Crude oil futures ended negative on October 21, down for the first time in six days.
WTI crude oil contracts for delivery in December were down 92 cents, or 1.1%, to $82.50 a barrel.
BRENT crude futures were down $1.21, or 1.4%, at $84.61 a barrel.
Profit-taking, however, drove crude oil prices down after the price reached its highest level in years.
Oil prices have also been pressured by falling coal and natural gas prices, following signals that China is preparing to intervene to depress market prices. As a result, power producers have reduced their willingness to switch to crude oil and diesel fuel.
Investors will keep an eye on the OPEC+ meeting on Nov. 4 to determine the oil production policy for December.
Gold contracts closed lower under pressure from a stronger dollar. This makes the gold contracts, which are priced in dollars, more expensive for investors holding other currencies.
The gold contracts were down $3, or 0.17%, to $1,781.9 per ounce.
Silver was down 27.5 cents, or 1.12%, to close at $24.17 an ounce.
The platinum contracts were down $2.6, or 0.25%, to close at $1,049.7 per ounce.
The palladium contracts were down $64.30, or 3.1%, at $2,018.10 an ounce.
National Association of Real Estate Brokers of the United States (NAR) reported that pre-owned home sales rose 7% to 6.29 million units in September. This is the highest level since January and exceeded analyst expectations of 6.09 million units.
US Federal Reserve Philadelphia branch reported that the Mid-Atlantic Manufacturing Index fell to 23.8 in October from 30.7 in September.
US dollar strengthens after revealing the number of initial jobless claims.
The dollar’s movement index against the six other major currencies in a basket of currencies rose 0.22% to 93.7690.
The US dollar strengthened against the Canadian dollar at 1.2378 Canadian dollars from 1.2315 Canadian dollars.
The dollar was lower against the yen to 113.94 yen from 114.20 yen.
The dollar weakened against the Swiss franc to 0.9184 Swiss Franc from 0.9188 Swiss Franc.
The euro was lower against the dollar at $1.1624 from $1.1655.
The pound fell to $1.3784 from $1.3832.
The Australian dollar fell to $0.7465 from $0.7521.
The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to 290,000 last week, just below analysts’ estimates of 300,000.
However, the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits remains above 230,000. This was the average weekly rate in the pre-Covid-19 outbreak in the United States. And the number of Americans who continued to apply for unemployment benefits fell 122,000 to 2.48 million.
The Spot Market is Open
Friday, October 22, 2021
| Metals Updated at | USD Bid/Ask | Ounce Change | Low/High |
| Gold 13.00 | 1,787.00 1,788.00 | +3.90 0.22% | 1,783.00 1,789.00 |
| Silver 13.00 | 24.14 24.24 | 0.00 0.00% | 24.10 24.33 |
| Platinum 13.00 | 1,049.00 1,059.00 | +1.00 0.10% | 1,048.00 1,063.00 |
| Palladium 05.00 | 1,974.00 2,124.00 | +22.00 1.13% | 1,946.00 2,128.00 |
| Rhodium 05.00 | 13,150.00 15,150.00 | 0.00 0.00% | 13,150.00 15,150.00 |
| Energy Updated at | Price | Change | %Change |
| Crude oil 13.00 | 81.92 | -0.58 | -0.70% |