Commodities
Grains surge as oil eases and gas jumps
Energy and agriculture split sharply, with gold still strong and coffee tumbling.
Oil prices finish lower. WTI crude falls 0.9% to 81.58, and Brent drops 2.6% to 86.32. Both remain above their 50-day and 200-day averages.
Natural gas jumps 5.3% to 2.918, while gasoline plunges 10.4% to 2.915. The move in gasoline is the biggest daily drop among the energy complex in the dataset.
The agriculture complex catches a strong bid. Corn jumps 7.3% to 537.0, wheat surges 11.3% to 763.25, and soybeans rise 2.9% to 1263.75. Sugar also adds 2.0% to 17.62, while coffee falls 13.6% to 321.0.
Metals stay firm overall. Gold rises 0.6% to 4666.2 and remains above its 50-day average, while copper is flat at 6.7125. Silver is also nearly unchanged at 68.61, but both gold and silver are sitting on strong month-to-date gains.