Gold rises, oil falls

Gold prices continued to climb Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke tempered hopes that a new stimulus package would be approved anytime soon.

Investors also bought gold because of concerns over Europe's financial debt crisis and negotiations in Washington over raising the US government's borrowing limit.

Gold rose J$3.80 to settle at US$1,589.30 an ounce. The price was a record in dollar terms but below its peak in the early 1980s after accounting for inflation.

Bernanke told Congress the Fed was not taking immediate action to stimulate the economy.

Gold and silver are seen as stable stores of value and many investors buy them when they're concerned about instability in other markets. September silver settled up 54.3 cents at US$38.694 an ounce.

Most other commodities were lower.

Dave Meger, vice-president of metals trading at Vision Financial Markets, said there is underlying support for many commodities but the markets likely will remain volatile until there is more clarity about the European crisis, the US debt limit talks and the prospect of another round of US economic stimulus measures.

A debt default for an economy as large as Italy's would hurt lending across the globe.

September copper fell 2.35 cents to settle at US$4.38 a pound, October platinum rose US$7.30 to US$1,774.30 an ounce and September palladium fell 65 cents to US$783.35 an ounce.

Energy and agricultural products fell.

Benchmark crude for August delivery fell US$2.36 to settle at US$95.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after hitting US$98.88 a barrel in earlier trading.

In other Nymex contracts, heating oil fell dropped 1.48 cents to settle at US$3.0849 per gallon, gasolene lost 2.68 cents to US$3.1248 per gallon and natural gas fell 2.9 cents to US$4.358 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Wheat for September delivery fell 7.5 cents to settle at US$7.07 a bushel, December corn fell 1.25 cents to US$6.785 a bushel and November soybeans rose 4.25 cents to US$13.84 a bushel.

- AP