Commodities Wrap 21 October: Natural Gas Sinks 5.84 Percent as Gold Snaps Two Declines
Natural gas settled 5.84 percent lower on Wednesday, the deepest move at the session’s settlements. Heating oil fell 3.28 percent, and December WTI eased 0.68 percent to 97.15 dollars a barrel even as the EIA reported a 3.1 million barrel draw in US crude stocks, roughly ten times the surveyed expectation. Gold rose 0.18 percent to 4,150.00 dollars an ounce, ending two sessions of declines, and corn’s 0.27 percent rise ended five. The Cboe Volatility Index closed 3.64 percent lower at 16.68.
Gas and the Products Lead Energy Lower as Crude Barely Moves
Natural gas settled 17.3 cents lower at 2.790 dollars per MMBtu, a fourth straight decline that keeps the contract below three dollars. Heating oil fell 3.28 percent to 4.7633 dollars a gallon after three straight gains, while gasoline’s 0.11 percent rise to 3.1205 ended two declines. December WTI settled 0.68 percent lower at 97.15 dollars, a third straight decline for the contract, even as the EIA’s weekly report showed US commercial crude stocks down 3.1 million barrels in the week to 16 October, against the 300,000 barrel draw analysts had expected in the written survey. December Brent settled 0.03 percent higher at 108.82 dollars, three cents above Tuesday’s settlement, ending two declines, on the settlement price Dow Jones’ market data carries.
Gold Alone Among the Metals as the Grains Split
Gold settled 0.18 percent higher at 4,150.00 dollars an ounce, the only riser among the five tracked metals and its first gain in three sessions. Silver eased 0.50 percent to 57.71, platinum fell 1.24 percent to end four straight gains, copper’s 0.36 percent fall ended three, and palladium lost 1.35 in a second straight decline. In agriculture, corn rose 0.27 percent to 463.25 cents a bushel, ending five straight declines, while wheat fell 2.33 percent in a fifth straight fall and soybeans eased 0.24 in a sixth. Among the ICE softs, coffee rebounded 1.72 percent and cotton added 1.29 in a third straight gain, with cocoa 0.66 higher and sugar 0.24 lower in a fourth straight decline, each measured against Tuesday’s official settlements as the exchange published them.
Energy
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Gasoline RBOB, NYMEX (Nov’26), dollars a gallon | $3.1205 | +0.11% |
| Brent Crude, ICE (Dec’26), dollars a barrel | $108.82 | +0.03% |
| WTI Crude, NYMEX (Dec’26), dollars a barrel | $97.15 | -0.68% |
| Heating Oil, NYMEX (Nov’26), dollars a gallon | $4.7633 | -3.28% |
| Natural Gas, NYMEX (Nov’26), dollars per MMBtu | $2.790 | -5.84% |
Wednesday’s settlements against Tuesday’s, ranked by change; the gasoline, WTI, heating oil and natural gas rows are the exchange’s settlements as the feed’s new-session baselines carry them, and the Brent row is the settlement price Dow Jones’ market data carries.
Metals
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | $4,150.00 | +0.18% |
| Copper, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars a pound | $6.5795 | -0.36% |
| Silver, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | $57.71 | -0.50% |
| Platinum, NYMEX (Jan’27), dollars an ounce | $1,635.90 | -1.24% |
| Palladium, NYMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | $1,089.90 | -1.35% |
Wednesday’s settlements against Tuesday’s, ranked by change; one of the five rose. The five rows are the exchange’s settlements as the feed’s new-session baselines carry them.
Agriculture
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee, ICE (Dec’26), cents a pound | 316.65 | +1.72% |
| Cotton, ICE (Dec’26), cents a pound | 81.92 | +1.29% |
| Cocoa, ICE (Dec’26), dollars a tonne | 5,839.00 | +0.66% |
| Sugar, ICE (Mar’27), cents a pound | 20.47 | -0.24% |
| Wheat, CBOT (Dec’26), cents a bushel | 628.25 | -2.33% |
Wednesday’s values against Tuesday’s settlements, five of the seven tracked rows ranked by change; corn, up 0.27 percent at 463.25 after five straight declines, and soybeans, down 0.24 at 1,245.25 in a sixth, are the omitted middle. The grain rows are the exchange’s settlements as the feed’s new-session baselines carry them; the ICE rows are the feed’s closing values with the official settlements pending, and soybeans rank above sugar on the unrounded changes.
Rates, currencies, volatility and crypto
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin, dollars | $84,712.29 | +2.73% |
| Euro/Dollar | 1.1231 | -0.01% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 101.69 | -0.01% |
| Sterling/Dollar | 1.3392 | -0.01% |
| Dollar/Yen | 158.08 | -0.03% |
| Cboe Volatility Index | 16.68 | -3.64% |
Reference rows at the 22:08 GMT read, ranked by change on the unrounded values; the currency rows are intraday levels with no daily settlement, the Cboe Volatility Index row is the index’s New York closing value, and the bitcoin row is the Coin Metrics dollar price as the feed carries it.
Why it matters: The energy complex did the day’s work in the gas and the products, not the crude. A fourth straight natural gas decline took the contract further below three dollars, heating oil gave back three sessions of gains in one, and the crude benchmarks barely moved between them, WTI easing even through a crude draw roughly ten times the surveyed figure. The metals told one story in two directions, platinum’s four-session run and copper’s three both ending while gold alone rose, and the grains stayed the market’s weakest corner, wheat’s fifth straight fall set against corn’s first rise in six sessions.
Outlook: The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia lands on Thursday at 06:15 GMT, with the Bank of Korea’s rate decision the same day. Meta Platforms and Tesla results landed after Wednesday’s New York close, and our US wrap follows with the session’s full tables. The ICE soft rows take the exchange’s official settlements in this wrap’s next cycle, and this wrap returns at midday against tonight’s settlements.
How these wraps are prepared: Methodology.
Sources: CME Group, Dow Jones, CNBC, US Energy Information Administration, The Edge.
