RIYADH: Gold prices on Wednesday were lifted from near one-month lows by weaker Treasury yields, ahead of a potentially aggressive interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve as it seeks to combat inflation amid mounting fears of an impending recession.
Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $1,815.89 per ounce as of 0535 GMT, after dropping to its lowest since May 16 at $1,803.90 on Tuesday. US gold futures rose 0.1 percent to $1,815.20.
Silver up
Spot silver gained 0.5 percent to $21.18 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.9 percent to $927.17.
Palladium firmed 0.6 percent to $1,825.94.
Soybean edges up
Chicago soybean futures rose for the first time in four sessions on Wednesday, as the market recovered from a more than one-week low, although growing inflationary concerns kept a lid on prices.
Corn and wheat futures lost more ground.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade added 0.2 percent to $17.01 a quarter of a bushel, as of 0212 GMT, after hitting its weakest since June 6 at $16.90 a bushel earlier in the session.
Corn fell 0.2 percent to $7.66 three-quarters of a bushel and wheat gave up 0.9 percent to $10.40 three-quarters of a bushel.
Aluminum gains
Aluminum prices rose on Wednesday from a seven-month low, supported by dwindling inventories and strong industrial output data from China, while traders watched to see how aggressively the US central bank would hike rates.
Three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange gained 0.4 percent to $2,580 a ton, as of 0446 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Nov. 10 on Tuesday.
The most-traded July aluminum contract in Shanghai was up 0.4 percent at $2,978.54 a ton by the midday break.
Cargill plans to close UK rapeseed crush plant
Cargill plans to close its rapeseed crush facility in Hull, eastern England, the global commodities trader said on Tuesday.
The mill, which Cargill has been operating since 1985, has the capacity to crush 750,000 tons of seed a day to produce 420,000 tons of rapeseed meal and 323,000 tons of crude rapeseed oil.
Traders said a sharp drop in production of rapeseed in Britain during the last few years had made it difficult for mills to obtain supplies from local sources and there has been an increasing reliance on imported supplies.
Cargill also has a rapeseed crush plant in Liverpool in north-west England while US-based grain merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. operates a facility in Erith in south-east England.
(With input from Reuters)
