Commodities Wrap 4 November: Brent Settles 8.67% Lower as Palladium Leads the Metals
First published at 11:32 GMT; updated with the session’s settlements at 22:32 GMT.
Brent settled 8.67% lower to lead a slide across the oil complex on Wednesday, while palladium rose 7.43% at the head of a rally in metals.
CNBC reported that crude fell more than 8% as Vice President JD Vance blamed the war with Iran for the Republicans’ midterm losses. In The Edge’s reading, the session took a war premium out of energy rather than signalling weaker demand across commodities: four of the five energy contracts fell more than 7%, while 10 of the 17 contracts we track settled higher.
Crude and the oil products fall more than 7%
Brent settled at $94.62 on its January contract and WTI fell 8.29%. Heating oil and gasoline each lost more than 7%. Natural gas rose 2.21%, the only gain in energy.
Palladium leads the metals and cotton the crops
Palladium settled 7.43% higher, the session’s biggest gain, and silver added 5.08%. Gold rose 3.37% to $4,073.00, while the dollar index slipped. Among the crops, cotton led with a 1.39% rise and coffee fell 1.48%; the tables carry the rest.
Energy
| Contract | Settlement | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ per million Btu | 2.959 | +2.21% |
| RBOB Gasoline, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ a gallon | 2.7286 | -7.05% |
| Heating Oil ULSD, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ a gallon | 4.2055 | -7.18% |
| WTI Crude, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ a barrel | 88.12 | -8.29% |
| Brent Crude, ICE (Jan’27), $ a barrel | 94.62 | -8.67% |
Official settlements for Wednesday 4 November as published by the exchanges and carried in the feed’s dated settlement fields, ranked by change against Tuesday’s official settlements; the Brent row runs on the January 2027 contract and the gasoline and heating oil rows on December, each against its own prior settlement.
Metals
| Contract | Settlement | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Palladium, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ an ounce | 1,003.00 | +7.43% |
| Silver, COMEX (Dec’26), $ an ounce | 52.282 | +5.08% |
| Platinum, NYMEX (Jan’27), $ an ounce | 1,498.20 | +4.77% |
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26), $ an ounce | 4,073.00 | +3.37% |
| Copper, COMEX (Dec’26), $ a pound | 6.429 | +0.42% |
Same basis, ranked by change.
Agriculture
| Contract | Settlement | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton, ICE (Dec’26), cents a pound | 78.11 | +1.39% |
| Cocoa, ICE (Dec’26), $ a tonne | 5,456.00 | +0.78% |
| Sugar, ICE (Mar’27), cents a pound | 18.47 | +0.76% |
| Corn, CBOT (Dec’26), cents a bushel | 444.25 | +0.40% |
| Wheat, CBOT (Dec’26), cents a bushel | 598.50 | -0.21% |
| Soybeans, CBOT (Jan’27), cents a bushel | 1,202.25 | -0.97% |
| Coffee, ICE (Dec’26), cents a pound | 279.75 | -1.48% |
Same basis, ranked by change.
Rates, currencies, volatility and crypto
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Cboe Volatility Index | 16.61 | -20.26% |
| Bitcoin, dollars | 80,502.60 | +3.55% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 101.53 | -0.34% |
| Euro/Dollar | 1.1236 | +0.41% |
| Sterling/Dollar | 1.3469 | +0.41% |
| Dollar/Yen | 158.40 | -0.19% |
Intraday quotes at 22:25 GMT, in fixed order; no daily settlement on these rows, and changes are measured against Tuesday’s reference levels as published, the feed’s own prior references having rolled to the new session; the VIX row is the session’s last reading.
What to watch: The Bank of England’s rate decision is due on Thursday 5 November, with the November Monetary Policy Report alongside, on the Bank’s calendar.
Levels in the commodity tables are the exchanges’ official settlements for Wednesday 4 November as carried by the price feed’s dated settlement fields, measured against Tuesday 3 November’s settlements as published; the rates, currencies, volatility and crypto rows are the feed’s quotes at 22:25 GMT against Tuesday’s references as published; percentages and counts not attributed to a source are The Edge’s calculations.
How these wraps are prepared: Methodology.
Sources: CNBC, The Edge.
