Crude trades below USD 91/bbl

Crude traded slightly lower, below the USD 91 per barrel mark as a stronger dollar helped erase Middle Eastern oil shipment concerns. Brent crude meanwhile continued to rise for a 5th consecutive day to a 28-month high of USD 103 per barrel.

Copper sprinted to a record peak of USD 10,000 a ton on investor hopes that supply shortages and buoyant demand growth this year would fuel a strong rally. However, it has retraced from those levels now on uncertainties with regard to the Chinese markets which are closed on account of New Year celebrations. Staying with the commodity space, sugar prices scaled a new high yesterday to trade at USD 851.5 per tonne led by fears of a heavy fall in Australia's sugar production due to the Yasi cyclone crossing into northern Queensland, which accounts for a third of the country's cane output