Commodities & Futures

Americans are starting to capitalize on low prices at the gas pump as states loosen travel restrictions, a boon for the battered energy industry and a hopeful signal for the U.S. economic recovery.

U.S. oil prices notched their largest monthly gains on record in May, recovering a big chunk of the losses caused in March and April by the coronavirus.

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Lumber futures have soared since the start of April, driven by cutbacks at mills, signs that the home-building season might be salvaged and brisk business at home-improvement stores.

Oil prices climbed, rising alongside stocks with more states and countries easing lockdown measures and boosting demand for fuel.

Oil prices climbed, advancing for the sixth consecutive session with producers curtailing output in response to ultralow crude prices and the coronavirus crisis.

The deadly outbreak in one of the world’s biggest producers of iron ore has disrupted global supplies, just as demand from China is revving up, pushing the price of the steel ingredient to a seven-month high.

Silver prices are surging, making the metal one of the market’s best-performing assets in the second quarter, with investors seeking havens that can hold their value during times of economic uncertainty.

Some fund managers think it is safer, and will prove more lucrative, to invest in refined-oil products or in Brent, a blend of crudes produced in the North Sea. The hottest trade right now: gasoline.

Oil consumption is rising again in those parts of the world emerging from coronavirus lockdowns, helping to alleviate a global glut and rebalance a market stymied by months of low demand and a devastating rout that saw prices drop by as much as two-thirds this year.

Global oil demand is expected to drop 18% this quarter from a year earlier as coronavirus lockdowns continue to hammer the global economy, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said.

Some farmers are shifting acres from corn to soybeans this year, a reversal that reflects the coronavirus pandemic’s broad impact on demand for many agricultural products.

Copper prices rose, extending a recent rebound with investors anticipating an uptick in demand as parts of the world roll back lockdown measures and trade tensions ease.

Job losses in Canada nearly doubled in April from the previous month to mark a new record, and over a third of the labor force were either unemployed or underutilized.

Natural-gas prices fell, pausing a recent recovery after weekly inventory figures showed a larger-than-expected increase last week.

Crude prices were lifted by hopes for a bounce in fuel consumption as economies hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic slowly reopen for business.

Oil prices erased a steep drop to close higher Monday, extending a recent stretch of volatile trading with investors retreating from near-dated futures contracts.

Investors, who just weeks ago shunned the fuel and the companies that sell it, are unwinding wagers that prices will fall, bidding up producers’ beaten-down shares and even buying their new bonds.

Oil prices advanced in volatile trading, lifted by hopes for a rise in fuel consumption as lockdown measures to stop the coronavirus are rolled back.