Commodities tumble on strengthening dollar

By SARA LEPRO, AP Business Writer
Friday, October 31, 2008 5:35 PM CDT

NEW YORK 10/31/08 - Gold prices tumbled Friday - the final day of a volatile month that saw commodities prices battered by a strengthening dollar.

Other precious metals, oil and agriculture futures also fell.

Concern over weakening economies overseas has undermined the euro and invigorated the greenback in recent weeks, prompting investors to shift funds into the dollar and out of commodities, which are often used as a hedge against inflation.

“It was just a horrendous month,” said Matt Zeman, chief market strategist at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. “The dollar has been on quite a tear for the last six weeks or so. Until it stops or until it starts to reverse it’s going to continue to hurt commodities prices.”

Gold for December delivery fell $20.30 to settle at $718.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices shed 18 percent in October.

December silver fell 5.50 cents to $9.730 an ounce, after falling as low as $9.20 earlier in the session. December copper futures, meanwhile, fell 6.15 cents to $1.8290 a pound. Silver prices lost 21 percent during the month; copper fell about 37 percent.

Oil prices logged their biggest monthly drop since futures trading began 25 years ago, on concerns that a contracting U.S. economy will cripple demand well into next year. While oil prices ended the month down 33 percent, they managed to post a slight rebound late in the day.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $1.85 to settle at $67.81 a barrel, after earlier falling as low as $63.12. Prices closed at $100.64 a barrel on the last trading day in September.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures fell 2.57 cents to $1.4413 a gallon, while heating oil rose 8.46 cents to $2.0842 a gallon.

Agriculture futures also declined.

December wheat futures dipped 1.75 cents to $5.3625 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, while corn for December delivery fell 8 cents to $4.0150 a bushel.

January soybeans shed 10 cents to $9.33 a bushel, after falling as low as $9.18 a bushel earlier in the session.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 150 points. Other major indexes also rose. The dollar advanced against other major currencies, including the euro and the British pound. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was 3.96 percent, down from 3.97 percent.

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