Commodities Wrap 5 November: Midday, Oil Recovers Part of Its Slide as Palladium Jumps
Brent’s January contract traded 2.64% higher on Thursday afternoon, recovering part of Wednesday’s slide, while palladium jumped 4.54% and all five energy contracts we track rose. Official settlements replace these intraday figures once the exchanges publish them.
CNBC reported that gold and silver futures climbed as a weaker US dollar and lower Treasury yields supported a rally that followed the US midterm elections. In The Edge’s reading, crude’s move is a partial retracement rather than a reversal: Brent has won back $2.50 of the $8.98 a barrel it lost on Wednesday.
Crude recovers part of Wednesday’s slide
Brent rose 2.64% to $97.12 a barrel. WTI’s December contract gained 2.63% and heating oil led the group with a 2.78% rise, while natural gas and gasoline also traded higher.
Palladium jumps and cocoa slides
Palladium led the metals with a 4.54% rise and gold traded at $4,127.80 an ounce, while copper was the only metal lower. Among the crops, cocoa’s March contract fell 5.20%, the largest move on our commodity tables, while sugar led the gainers with a 1.08% rise; the tables carry the rest.
Energy
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Heating Oil ULSD, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ a gallon | 4.3226 | +2.78% |
| Brent Crude, ICE (Jan’27), $ a barrel | 97.12 | +2.64% |
| WTI Crude, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ a barrel | 90.44 | +2.63% |
| Natural Gas, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ per million Btu | 2.983 | +0.81% |
| RBOB Gasoline, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ a gallon | 2.7473 | +0.69% |
Intraday quotes at 17:20 GMT against Wednesday 4 November’s official settlements, settlement to snapshot, ranked by change on the unrounded values; Brent is quoted on its January 2027 contract.
Metals
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Palladium, NYMEX (Dec’26), $ an ounce | 1,048.50 | +4.54% |
| Platinum, NYMEX (Jan’27), $ an ounce | 1,534.30 | +2.41% |
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26), $ an ounce | 4,127.80 | +1.35% |
| Silver, COMEX (Dec’26), $ an ounce | 52.66 | +0.72% |
| Copper, COMEX (Dec’26), $ a pound | 6.3005 | -2.00% |
Same basis: intraday quotes at 17:20 GMT against Wednesday’s official settlements, ranked by change.
Agriculture
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar, ICE (Mar’27), cents a pound | 18.67 | +1.08% |
| Cotton, ICE (Dec’26), cents a pound | 78.87 | +0.97% |
| Wheat, CBOT (Dec’26), cents a bushel | 600.75 | +0.38% |
| Corn, CBOT (Dec’26), cents a bushel | 441.00 | -0.73% |
| Soybeans, CBOT (Jan’27), cents a bushel | 1,192.75 | -0.79% |
| Coffee, ICE (Dec’26), cents a pound | 277.35 | -0.86% |
| Cocoa, ICE (Mar’27), $ a tonne | 5,267.00 | -5.20% |
Same basis, ranked by change, with wheat quoted at 17:19 GMT; cocoa moves to its March 2027 contract, against that contract’s own Wednesday settlement.
Currencies, volatility and crypto
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Cboe Volatility Index | 25.02 | +50.63% |
| Bitcoin, dollars | 75,788.68 | -5.36% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 101.46 | -0.11% |
| Euro/Dollar | 1.1233 | +0.05% |
| Sterling/Dollar | 1.3479 | +0.06% |
| Dollar/Yen | 157.73 | -0.44% |
Quotes at 17:30 GMT, in fixed order; no daily settlement on these instruments, and changes are measured against the feed’s prior reference levels.
What to watch: The US Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes its October employment report on Friday 6 November at 13:30 GMT.
Levels in the commodity tables are intraday quotes at 17:20 GMT as carried by the price feed, measured against Wednesday 4 November’s official settlements as published; the currencies, volatility and crypto quotes are the feed’s at 17:30 GMT against its prior references; percentages and differences not attributed to a source are The Edge’s calculations.
How these wraps are prepared: Methodology.
Sources: CNBC, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Edge.
