Crude oil futures rose as both the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine theater produced headlines pointing to tighter supply; gold retreated from a one-week high as traders awaited fresh clues on the Federal Reserve's rate path and assessed oil price volatility; copper climbed as the market weighed the interest rate outlook while also monitoring new supply risks.

Brent and WTI both turn higher as Middle East and Russia-Ukraine supply signals tighten

The December Brent contract settled in New York at $106.65 a barrel. The November West Texas Intermediate contract rose 2.1% to close at $93.74 a barrel. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country will keep striking Russia because Moscow continues to attack Ukraine's energy infrastructure. He said he learned about the energy truce mentioned by Trump from social media, but that it was "obvious" Russian President Vladimir Putin "doesn't watch Truth Social." "This is not a ceasefire we expected to hold, and it hasn't even taken effect yet," Amrita Sen, founder and director of market intelligence at energy consultancy Energy Aspects Ltd., said in an interview. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia said it had detected new hostile threats, while operations at Riyadh's main airport remained suspended. In addition, attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have escalated. Aggregated data show that at least 10 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and several Suezmax tankers have halted or turned around in recent days as they approached the UAE's Fujairah port.

Precious metals

Spot gold fell below $4,200 an ounce, giving back gains from the Asian trading session. Since the U.S.-Iran war broke out at the end of February, gold prices have fallen about 20%. Disruptions to global energy supply have intensified inflationary pressures, prompting central banks to tighten monetary policy, and higher interest rates typically weigh on non-interest-bearing gold. Even so, gold has mostly held above $4,000 an ounce, partly due to continued large inflows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds and the People's Bank of China accelerating its purchases. At 3:33 p.m. New York time on Monday, spot gold fell 0.7% to $4,167.14 an ounce; silver dropped 1.1% to $60.18 an ounce; platinum and palladium edged lower.

Base metals

A collapse at a mine owned by Chile's Codelco that caused fatalities has heightened market concerns about copper supply. London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month contract closing prices: copper rose $78.50 to $14,618.50 a ton; tin surged $203 to $53,209 a ton; zinc fell $48 to $3,757.50 a ton; lead dropped $4.50 to $1,883.50 a ton; aluminum rose $4 to $3,052.50 a ton; nickel fell $3 to $15,619 a ton.