COMMODITIES/MONEY

ly lower. Economic optimism had lifted the S&P 500 to an all-time closing high last Thursday.

Spot gold was down 1.2% to US$1,555.89 an ounce by 3:08pm EST (1908 GMT), having hit an earlier low of US$1,549.69, a level last seen on June 28, 2012.

The precious metal fell sharply for a second day after its previous session’s 1.4% drop, as safe-haven buying dried up on rallying global stock markets.

US gold futures for April delivery settled down US$22.30 at US$1,552.80 an ounce, with trading volume in line with its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. — Reuters NEW YORK Silver dropped 45.1 cents to US$26.797 per ounce on Wednesday. — AP

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at US$7,386.5 a tonne, down from US$7,465 at the close on Tuesday. Earlier in the session it hit US$7,390, its lowest since early August. — Reuters NEW YORK Copper dropped a nickel to US$3.33 per pound on Wednesday. — AP technical indicator watched by traders.

Selling started early in the New York session after a report on US privatesector employment from payrolls processor ADP showed hiring was less than expected in March.

The decline accelerated shortly after the release of weekly US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showing a larger than expected 2.7 million barrel increase in crude oil inventories.

The stocks are now at their highest since 1990, totalling more than 388 million barrels, and are close to the alltime peak hit in 1982 of 391.9 million barrels, EIA data showed. — Reuters