Commodity prices turn mixed after Thursday’s plunge

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Commodity prices stabilized on Friday after Thursday’s dive, as the government’s report of strong job gains in April bolstered the case for a continuing economic recovery.

The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of 19 major commodities was off fractionally at about 10 a.m. PDT, down 1.14 points, or 0.3%, to 339.93, after tumbling 4.9% on Thursday.

Crude oil futures in New York also were little changed, off 48 cents to $99.32 a barrel, after plummeting $9.44 a barrel on Thursday.

Silver, which crashed 25% Monday through Thursday after leading the charge in commodities in the first four months of this year, continued to fall, but at a slower pace. Futures in New York were down $1.33, or 3.7%, to $34.92 an ounce. But gold was up $2.40 to $1,483.80 an ounce.

Raw-materials prices plummeted on Thursday as new worries about global economic growth gave many investors and traders an excuse to take profits after the huge price gains of the last eight months.

A rebound in the battered dollar also weighed on commodities on Thursday and continued to put pressure on prices on Friday. The DXY index of the dollar’s value against six other major currencies was up 0.6% to 74.60 on Friday after rallying 1.6% on Thursday.

-- Tom Petruno