Commodity Capsule: Brent crude oil slips; gold near 2-month low; copper edge higher | Watch video

Commodity Capsule: Oil prices fell from a two-week high, on Thursday after a larger-than-expected jump in U.S. crude inventories, raising demand concerns.

Brent crude futures inched lower to $81 a barrel, while US WTI crude futures declined towards $76/barrel.

Both contracts have lost over $2 a barrel, pressured by a rise in US crude inventories, as refining dropped to its lowest levels since December 2022.

Energy Information Administration said US crude inventories jumped by 12 million barrels to 439.5 million barrels in the week to Feb. 9, far exceeding the forecast for a 2.6 million-barrel rise.

While the stock build-up raised concerns among traders about demand, some analysts said the move was largely driven by lower refinery utilisation rates.

US natural gas futures fell over 4 per cent to $1.61/MMBtu, hitting a low not seen since June 2020.

Gas prices are facing headwinds from near-record production, ample fuel storage, and forecasts of warmer weather.

Additionally, reduced gas flows to US LNG export plants are expected due to the shutdown of a liquefaction unit in Texas.

Winter's mild temperatures have enabled utilities to increase gas storage, with inventories currently 15 per cent above normal levels.

Gas output in February increased to an average of 105.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) compared to 102.1 bcfd in January.

Weaker demand is indicative in the prediction of above-average temperatures from Feb. 19-29.

Copper edged higher on Thursday, buoyed by a slight pullback in the U.S. dollar and lower inventories.

Prices were hemmed in a narrow range as markets in China were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Copper on the London Metal Exchange steadied past $8,200/metric ton.

The dollar index eased from a three-month high on Tuesday as traders pushed back bets for 1st Federal Reserve rate cut following surprisingly hot inflation figures.

Providing some support to copper was LME daily data that showed copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses fell to 133,888 tons, the lowest level since September.

Copper is down 4.5 per cent this month on concerns about demand from China and its property sector in particular.

Gold prices held near a two-month low on Thursday.

Traders assessed US Federal Reserve officials' mixed remarks on January's hotter-than-expected inflation data that triggered pullback on hopes of early and deeper interest rate cuts.

Global gold futures were holding key $2,000/Oz support, after hitting its lowest since Dec. 13.

Fed's path back to its 2 per cent inflation target rate would still be on track even if price increases run a bit hotter-than-expected over the next few months.

The central bank should be wary of waiting too long before it cuts interest rates, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said on Wednesday.

Goolsbee's remarks came after an upside surprise in U.S. inflation on Tuesday showed the consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.1 per cent on an annual basis, above forecasts for a 2.9 per cent increase.

Bullion slid about 1.4 per cent after the CPI data, in its biggest daily decline since Dec. 4.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said the Fed remained confident, but the January CPI numbers show the United States' path back to 2 per cent inflation "may be a bumpy one."

Focus is now on U.S. retail sales data today and producer price index numbers due on Friday. At least 3 Fed officials are due to speak for the week.

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