* Copper posts best week since Feb
* Oil prices rose on Friday
* CRB Index down on week
By Jeanine Prezioso
NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) – Major commodity markets rose
on Friday, after a week of choppy trading, lifted by higher U.S.
equities that benefited from strong earnings reports and
positive European economic data that assuaged investor fears
about the euro zone debt.
German business sentiment rose for the sixth month in a row
in April, to its highest since July 2011, to support most
markets.
Two U.S. equities indices were higher on Friday and for the
week. For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average
rose 1.4 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index
added 0.6 percent.
The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index, a global
commodities benchmark, finished the day up 0.64 percent after
finishing flat on Thursday. For the week, the index was down at
0.55 percent.
The index was weighed down again on Friday by U.S. grains
markets. Corn and wheat were each sharply lower, a reversal from
Thursday, on supportive U.S. growing weather in the United
States and uncertain export sales to China.
The exception in that market was soybeans, which rose to a
7-1/2 month high on strong Chinese export demand.
U.S. crude oil futures rose on the back of the
positive German business sentiment to settle 78 cents per barrel
higher at $103.05, a gain of 0.76 percent.
Brent crude oil rose 76 cents to settle at $118.76 a
barrel.
In the metals market, London Metal Exchange (LME)
three-month copper ended at $8,190 a tonne, up $140.
Copper posted its best weekly performance since late
February on Friday.
Prices at 4:34 p.m. EST (2034 GMT)
LAST/ NET PCT YTD
CLOSE CHG CHG CHG
US crude 103.61 0.78 0.8% 4.8%
Brent crude 118.79 0.79 0.7% 10.6%
Natural gas 1.927 0.020 1.0% -35.5%
US gold 1647.10 1.40 0.1% 5.1%
Gold 1641.79 -0.69 0.0% 5.0%
US Copper 369.80 7.05 1.9% 7.6%
#VALUE!
Dollar 79.144 -0.417 -0.5% -1.3%
CRB 301.200 1.900 0.6% -1.3%
US corn 612.50 -8.50 -1.4% -5.3%
US soybeans 1446.75 31.00 2.2% 20.7%
US wheat 615.75 -9.00 -1.4% -5.7%
US Coffee 177.70 4.05 2.3% -22.1%
US Cocoa 2299.00 41.00 1.8% 9.0%
US Sugar 21.93 -0.12 -0.5% -5.6%
US silver 31.651 -0.128 -0.4% 13.4%
US platinum 1584.20 6.20 0.4% 12.8%
US palladium 676.90 13.60 2.1% 3.2%
(Reporting by Jeanine Prezioso; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)
