Commodities: Iraq says OPEC must act to support prices

The commodity patch saw some selling pressure at the start of the week, as market operators braced for the release of a barrage of economic data due out Stateside, not to mention the OPEC summit due to take place in Vienna, on Thursday.

Some market commentary described the upcoming meeting of delegates from the major oil-producing countries as the most important in a decade, as their control of the market ebbs, pitting higher-cost producers against lower-cost ones, amongst other factors.

Front month West Texas crude futures thus fell by 84 cents to $75.78 per barrel on NYMEX.

Iraq's oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi was quoted as saying that action must be taken as current prices are unacceptable. His country however may be one of three exempted from any reduction.

To take note of as well, Bloomberg cited a report from Iranian news agency Shana according to which Russia and Iran had agreed to "co-operate" in oil markets.

Gold futures for December delivery also came under selling pressure, slipping 4.1 cents lower to $1,196 per ounce over on COMEX, near a three-week high.

Three-month copper futures lost 0.74% to end the day at $6,675 per metric tonne on the LME despite speculation of further policy easing measures in China.