Copper prices fell amid pressure on the stocks of technology companies linked to artificial intelligence. Brent crude is trading above $111 per barrel, gold has lost about 1%, and corn futures in Chicago are up for the second consecutive day.

Oil

Brent crude futures for December delivery rose 2.44% to $111.48 per barrel, with a daily range of $109.82–$111.61. Over the week, oil has gained 5.3%. WTI crude is up 2.16%, trading at $99.25. On Wednesday, Brent ended the day virtually unchanged, while WTI fell by 67 cents.

"Oil remains elevated: Brent has climbed back above $110 per barrel following new, deadly attacks on Saudi Arabia," analysts at ING noted.

What the market is watching:

* Plans regarding Iran. According to The New York Times, the U.S. and Israel have developed plans for new strikes against Iran’s energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile arsenal, to be carried out following the U.S. midterm elections. Trump has repeatedly postponed such strikes and has not yet authorized a new operation. Iran has warned that, in the event of a response, it could target Saudi oil refineries, data centers, and undersea internet cables.

* Houthi attacks. On Wednesday, Iranian-linked Houthi rebels from Yemen struck several targets in Saudi Arabia; one person was killed at the Dammam airport, and two others died in a drone attack on an oil field. The United States has ordered non-emergency government personnel and their families to leave the country. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott clarified that the order applies only to Saudi Arabia.

* U.S. Inventories: According to the EIA, U.S. oil inventories fell by 3.06 million barrels to 412.5 million barrels, surpassing the projected decline of 820,000 barrels. Meanwhile, distillate stocks rose by 1.68 million barrels to 104.3 million barrels, contrary to expectations of a 1.16 million-barrel decrease.

* Heating Oil: The Trump administration has proposed releasing nearly a third of the 1-million-barrel emergency heating oil reserve—in the form of a loan—to help curb prices amid a shortage of diesel fuel.

* Negotiations on Ukraine: The Kremlin announced that, following a meeting with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Putin has agreed to resume peace talks with Ukraine as early as next month.

Gold

Gold futures for December delivery are down 1.02% to $4,107.76 per ounce, with a daily range of $4,082.35–$4,164.50. Spot gold (XAU/USD) has fallen 1.19% to $4,092.02. Over the past week, gold has lost approximately 1.5%, and nearly 4.9% over the month.

Silver is seeing a sharper decline than gold, dropping 2.19% to $56.445 per ounce. Platinum is down 1.84%, trading at $1,605.85, while palladium has fallen 2.54% to $1,062.25.

According to The Times of India, precious metals are under pressure from concerns regarding inflation, which could be fueled by high oil prices. Market participants are awaiting signals on interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting on October 27–28. A Reuters survey indicates that nearly all economists expect the regulator to keep rates unchanged. According to the CME FedWatch tool, traders are pricing in an 84% probability of this outcome next week, and a 90% probability of a rate hike in December.

Copper

Copper on the LME is down 0.98% to $14,236.45 per tonne, with a daily range of $14,198.00–$14,366.00. This is approximately 4.3% below the record high of $14,875 reached last month. COMEX copper futures for December delivery are down 1.48% to $6.4828 per pound. The contract is losing value, alongside other industrial metals, amid pressure on technology stocks. Asian equities are declining following earnings reports from major tech companies that failed to convince investors of the sustainability of the AI ​​boom. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 1.65%, following a 1.13% gain in the index the previous day. Copper had previously benefited from this boom due to its use in data centers and energy infrastructure. Sentiment is further weighed down by the situation in China: the CSI 300 index has entered a bear market, having fallen 20% from its June peak and declining for 10 consecutive weeks.

"There remains significant uncertainty regarding the supply-demand balance for copper next year," said Zhengting Zhou, a trader at Hangzhou Chenglian Industrial Co. "Mine supply is expected to improve, demand for imports in the U.S. will likely decline, and the availability of copper scrap in China should also recover. There are few significant upside risks for copper."

What the market is watching:

* U.S. tariffs: There is uncertainty over whether Trump will impose tariffs on refined copper. The anticipation of such a move has drawn massive volumes of the metal into U.S. warehouses this year, tightening supply in other regions.

* Strikes in Canada: Workers at Highland Valley Copper—the country’s largest copper mine, owned by Teck Resources—are threatening to go on strike as early as Saturday. Meanwhile, workers at Antofagasta in Chile are preparing to end their strike. Nickel on the LME fell 1.30% to $16,072.75 per tonne, following a 3.7% gain in the previous session driven by expectations of coordinated production cuts by Chinese producers in Indonesia. Zinc lost 0.55%, trading at $3,729.65. Iron ore in Singapore dropped as much as 1.7% to $89.45 per tonne—a near two-year low—before recovering some of those losses.

Corn

U.S. corn futures rose for the second consecutive day, supported by bargain hunting and signs of improving demand. The December contract climbed 0.29% to 464.60 cents per bushel, trading within a daily range of 463.60–465.90 cents. For the week, corn is down 2.8%. The most actively traded contract in Chicago rose 0.6%—though it later pared those gains—following a decline of more than 4% over a six-session losing streak that ended Tuesday.

The European Commission reported that corn imports into the European Union have risen by 40% since the start of the season on July 1. Meanwhile, SovEcon forecasts that Ukraine’s grain exports from the 2026/27 harvest will be lower than previously anticipated.

Corn and wheat prices have been falling since the beginning of September as the risk premium associated with the Russia-Ukraine war has dissipated. This trend has intensified amid pressure from Trump on Kyiv to reach a peace agreement with Moscow. "Corn is rebounding due to end-user buying, rather than a shift in fundamental factors," said Joe Davis, director of commodity sales at Futures International LLC. "Positive demand signals will provide some support, but any gains are likely to be short-lived."

Other commodity futures

* Natural gas: $2.759 (-1.11%)

* Dutch TTF Natural Gas: €88.64 (+1.39%)

* Heating oil: $4.8827 (+2.51%)

* RBOB gasoline: $3.1817 (+1.96%)

* Gasoil (London): $1,461.63 (+2.10%)

* U.S. wheat: 628.40 cents per bushel (+0.02%)

* U.S. soybeans: 1,244.00 cents per bushel (-0.10%)

* U.S. soybean oil: 66.00 cents per pound (+0.04%)

* U.S. soybean meal: $347.95 (-0.10%)

* U.S. cotton No. 2: 81.41 cents per pound (-0.51%)

What to expect in the markets on Friday

As the week draws to a close, the U.S. will release preliminary Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data for October from S&P Global. At 16:45 Moscow time, the services sector index is expected to fall to 58.0 from 58.8, while the manufacturing sector index is projected to decline to 55.5 from 55.9. At 17:00 Moscow time, the University of Michigan will release its data: inflation expectations are forecast to remain at 4.7%, while the consumer sentiment index is expected to come in at 46.3. These figures are significant given the expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in December.

At 20:00 Moscow time, Baker Hughes will publish data on U.S. drilling rigs. As of the previous week, the number of active rigs stood at 459, with a total rig count of 603.