Commodities: OPEC members' remarks stoke volatility in crude oil futures

Commodities were pushed higher by US dollar weakness as investors waited on the results of a key presidential election debate later in the day Stateside, with energy futures continuing to see out-sized volatility as traders kept close track on the news-flow coming out of Algiers.

West Texas Intermediate was up 3.28% at $45.99 a barrel after Algeria’s energy minister Noureddine Bouterfa said on Sunday that all options for a production cut or freeze at this week’s OPEC meeting were on the table.

Bouterfa said: "We will not come out of the meeting empty-handed.”

To take note, some traders sounded a skeptical regarding just how precise such suggestions from OPEC officials might be.

October 2016 NYMEX-traded gasoline futures were higher by 2.04% to $1.4050 per gallon while similarly-dated heating oil futures advanced 2.84% to $1.4472 a gallon.

Worth noting, analysts at Citi reportedly told clients to expect higher volatility in gold and foreign exchange markets in case of an election victory by US Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, “which in turn should lead to higher volumes in other precious metals.”

Gold futures for December delivery edged higher by 0.13% to $1,343.40 on COMEX, while those for silver slipped 1.19% to $19.58 an ounce.

Spot platinum was also lower, giving back 1.30% to end the day at $1,040.25 per ounce.

Three-month LME-traded copper lost 0.4% to trade at $4,842.50 per metric tonne.

Soft commodities were in the red for the most part, with December 2016 corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade surrendering 2.08% to $3.2950 per bushel and wheat losing 1.91% to $3.97 a bushel.

Cocoa futures on Euronext LIFFE retreated 0.9% to £2,270 per tonne, although white sugar futures managed to tack on 0.9% to stand at $597.70 a tonne.

As of 1744 BST the US dollar index was drifting lower by 0.18% to 95.31, while Bloomberg’s commodity index was advancing 0.66% to 84.87.