Commodities Wrap 22 October: Brent Settles 4.00 Percent Higher as Gold Falls 2.16 Percent
Brent crude settled 4.00 percent higher at 113.17 dollars a barrel on Thursday, its highest close since 4 May on CNBC’s settlement report, and every energy contract we track rose with it. The metals went the other way: gold settled 2.16 percent lower at 4,060.40 dollars an ounce and silver fell 4.68 percent, a second straight decline. Natural gas added 0.22 percent to snap four days of losses even after a storage build.
The Energy Complex Prices a Tighter Gulf
West Texas Intermediate settled 2.39 percent higher at 99.47 dollars, snapping three declines, and the products ran ahead of the crudes: heating oil settled 3.54 percent higher, rebounding after one decline, and RBOB gasoline rose 1.79 percent for a second straight gain. The move came on supply concern tied to the region: CNBC reported, citing unnamed United States officials in The New York Times, that Washington is planning renewed strikes on Iran after next month’s midterm elections, and that the State Department has ordered non-emergency government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia. Saudi state media reported at least two people killed in Wednesday’s attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, and Saudi Aramco told staff at its Dhahran headquarters to work remotely, per a Reuters report carried by CNBC. Natural gas settled at 2.796 dollars after the Energy Information Administration’s own report showed a 77 billion cubic feet build to 3,644, leaving stocks 35 above the five-year average.
Metals Sell Off as the Softs Extend Their Slide
The five metals we track all settled lower: silver at 55.01 dollars an ounce, down 4.68 percent, platinum down 3.61 percent, palladium 3.06 percent for a third straight decline, copper 2.76 percent and gold 2.16 percent, the bullion’s first fall after Wednesday’s gain. In the grains, wheat fell 0.56 percent for a sixth straight decline and corn 0.59 percent, while soybeans closed 0.52 percent higher on the January contract, now the most active after the front month rolled from November. Cocoa led the softs lower, down 4.04 percent in late trading, with sugar off 1.56 percent for a fifth straight fall, coffee 1.50 percent and cotton 1.34 percent lower.
Energy
| Contract | Settlement | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude, ICE (Dec’26), dollars a barrel | 113.17 | +4.00% |
| Heating Oil ULSD, NYMEX (Nov’26), dollars a gallon | 4.9321 | +3.54% |
| WTI Crude, NYMEX (Dec’26), dollars a barrel | 99.47 | +2.39% |
| RBOB Gasoline, NYMEX (Nov’26), dollars a gallon | 3.1765 | +1.79% |
| Natural Gas, NYMEX (Nov’26), dollars per million Btu | 2.796 | +0.22% |
Settlements of Thursday 22 October against Wednesday’s, ranked by change; the Brent row is the settlement carried in CNBC’s report, the rest the exchange’s official figures.
Metals
| Contract | Settlement | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | 4,060.40 | -2.16% |
| Copper, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars a pound | 6.398 | -2.76% |
| Palladium, NYMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | 1,056.60 | -3.06% |
| Platinum, NYMEX (Jan’27), dollars an ounce | 1,576.90 | -3.61% |
| Silver, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | 55.01 | -4.68% |
Settlements, same session and basis, ranked by change; all five settled lower.
Agriculture
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Soybeans, CBOT (Jan’27), cents a bushel | 1,264.75 | +0.52% |
| Wheat, CBOT (Dec’26), cents a bushel | 624.75 | -0.56% |
| Corn, CBOT (Dec’26), cents a bushel | 460.50 | -0.59% |
| Cotton, ICE (Dec’26), cents a pound | 80.73 | -1.34% |
| Coffee, ICE (Dec’26), cents a pound | 311.40 | -1.50% |
| Sugar, ICE (Mar’27), cents a pound | 20.13 | -1.56% |
| Cocoa, ICE (Dec’26), dollars a tonne | 5,607.00 | -4.04% |
The grain rows are official settlements; the soybean front month rolled to January, measured against January’s prior settlement. The four ICE soft rows are closing values at 22:02 GMT against Wednesday’s official settlements; these rows will be updated once the exchange publishes its official settlements.
Rates, currencies, volatility and crypto
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| VIX | 19.03 | +14.09% |
| Euro/Dollar | 1.1216 | +0.02% |
| Sterling/Dollar | 1.3400 | +0.01% |
| Dollar/Yen | 156.76 | 0.00% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 101.61 | -0.16% |
| Bitcoin | 81,425.98 | -3.57% |
Intraday quotes at 22:02 GMT, ranked by change on the unrounded values; the VIX row is the New York closing value; the currency rows are measured against the feed’s daily reference levels, not settlements.
Why it matters: The same risk that sold equities bought energy: every one of the five energy contracts we track settled higher on the day all five metals settled lower, a split that reads as a supply-risk premium rather than a demand story, because a demand story would have lifted copper with the crudes. Gold falling through a risk-heavy session is the second tell: the slide in bullion arrived beside a 17 basis point drop in the ten-year Treasury yield, the opposite pairing of a classic safety bid. Natural gas snapping four declines despite a storage build that left stocks above the five-year average says the energy bid is broad.
Outlook: Friday closes the trading week with the soft rows’ official settlements due overnight and the next natural-gas storage report a week out. The oil market’s next cue is whether the week’s supply concern hardens into dated disruptions or fades the way the last spike did; the December Brent contract enters Friday on two straight gains.
How these wraps are prepared: Methodology.
Sources: CME Group, ICE, US Energy Information Administration, CNBC, The Edge.
