Commodity Capsule: Brent crude oil drops to 4-month low; gold rise; copper inches up | Watch video

Commodity Capsule: Oil prices dropped around 5 per cent on Thursday to their lowest in four months.

Investors are worried about global oil demand following weak data from the US and Asia.

Brent and WTI futures settled down nearly 5 per cent lower to $77.42 a barrel and $72.90 respectively.

Both Brent and WTI earlier traded at their lowest since July 7.

Both WTI and Brent's front-month contracts traded below later-dated contracts, a structure known as contango.

No. of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased to a three-month high last week, suggesting that labor market conditions continued to ease.

Copper prices inched up on Friday, tracking a weaker U.S. dollar, although demand concerns in China kept gains in check.

The red metal on LME is headed for over 2.5 per cent of weekly gains

The dollar was on track for weekly losses as a slew of weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data released this week has reinforced market expectations that the Fed has reached the end of its aggressive monetary tightening cycle.

Worries about demand in China were reinforced by new home prices falling for a fourth month in October.

Goldman Sachs expects increased returns on commodities over the next 12 months.

Bank forecasts returns of 21 per cent on commodities over a 12-month horizon on the S&P GSCI Commodity Index, led by returns of about 31 per cent from energy and 17.8 per cent from industrial metals.

Gold prices rose slightly on Friday, on track for their first weekly gain in three.

Investors grew confident that the US Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates, sending dollar and Treasury yields lower.

Global gold prices are hovering $1990 an ounce mark, its highest level since November 6.

Bullion is up 2.7 per cent so far this week.

The dollar was on track for a weekly drop, while yields on 10-year Treasury notes hovered near two-month lows.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week, which would aid the Fed's fight against inflation.

US headline consumer prices were flat in October, against expectations for a 0.1 per cent rise. Core CPI, at 0.2 per cent, came in below a forecast of 0.3 per cent.

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