Industrial metals used in everything from consumer products to construction gained ground Thursday after a report showed improvement in the housing market.
The National Association of Realtors report came on top of stronger auto and retail sales in November. In addition, the European Central Bank took additional steps to try to curb financial problems in the 16 nations that use the euro.
Together, the developments gave traders more confidence that demand for industrial metals may pick up, LaSalle Futures Group analyst Matt Zeman said.
Copper is a key material for wiring and pipes for construction, and platinum and palladium are used in auto catalytic converters.
In contracts for March delivery, copper added 3.15 cents to $3.9790 a pound; palladium rose $31.40 to $763.70 an ounce and silver gained 15.9 cents to $28.572 an ounce.
January platinum settled up $29.10 at $1,713.10 an ounce while February gold added $1 to $1,389.30 an ounce.
Benchmark oil for January delivery added $1.25 to $88 a barrel, just shy of the high for the year of $88.29 a barrel. Gasoline gained 5.49 cents to $2.3553 a gallon, heating oil rose 4.9 cents to $2.4546 a gallon and natural gas gained 7.4 cents to $4.343 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Wheat for March delivery added 8.5 cents to $7.4850 a bushel, March corn lost 10.75 cents to $5.5550 a bushel and January soybeans slipped 3.25 cents to $12.7975 a bushel.
