The main issue this week as to whether oil continues to ease, as it was throughout most of the past week. Oil fell for a fourth day on Friday in the biggest weekly decline for more than three years.

Prices dropped 11% in the week to reduce tensions between the U.S. and Iran, U.S. industrial production and falling demand for gas and weakening growth in China. A strike in Brazil seem to have been settled, but there can be no more unrest in Nigeria in the coming weeks.

August crude oil fell 41c barrel on Friday to $ US128.88 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, lowest close since June 5. (Futures reached a record U.S. $ US147.27 on July 11.)

At last week's decline was high in percentage terms since December 2004, when oil closed at $ US42.54 barrel this week. Last week at $ US16.20-barrel drop was the largest weekly decline in dollar terms since futures trading began in 1983.

Assistance report showing that high oil prices have an impact on U.S. consumption. He fell to 3% in the first half of 2008, the largest decline for a period of 17 years, according to the American Petroleum Institute in monthly updates.

"While U.S. refiners churned from the record and nearly record amounts of petroleum imports - particularly product imports - has decreased significantly", API report said.


"The supply of all petroleum products - a measure of demand - fell 3.0 percent compared with the first half of the same period in 2007, with deliveries of gasoline sliding 1.7 percent.

"Over the past three years demand for oil mainly permanent.

"API statistics manager Ron Planting said:" At 20.08 million barrels per day, total demand was low in five years. A decline in demand for gasoline was the first significant one recorded in 17 years.

"Higher pump prices and slowing economy certainly factors.

"At 2.0 percent, the second-quarter decline in demand for gasoline has been even more than in the first six months.

"Nevertheless, the decline 1.8 percent for all goods over the past three months, compared with the same period a year ago, was lower in part because of 2.1 percent growth in demand for distillates, including diesel and home heating fuel ".

In London, September Brent crude oil fell by 88 USC $ US130.19 barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange Europe, as low close on June 5.

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Gold and silver fell Friday after a three-day rally reduce the proportion of demand for precious metals as alternative investments.

And even a surge in U.S. producer and consumer inflation in June (up to 9.2% and 5% annual rate, respectively) sees any real surge in demand or to talk about hedge against inflation.

Comex August gold futures fell to $ US12.70 $ US958 ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the defeat low of $ US950.20.

Gold dropped 0.3% compared with September, although a week silver futures fell 2.9% to $ US18.20 ounce. Silver has continued to work 22% so far this year and gold, 14%.

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Corn also fell, ending the biggest weekly drop in 12 years, after Argentina repealed a controversial tax increase on the export of certain cereals. , Which ended the fight with farmers who have violated the supply of grain from the country during most of this year and saw significant growth in social and political tensions in the country. The weakness spread to soybean and wheat which also fell as traders realized that Argentina must be able to increase exports of both of these products are not too many obstacles.

President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner withdrew the tax proposal, after not win support for its tax plan from Congress.

Farmers threatened to resume protests four months if a decree on taxes was cancelled. Country world second largest exporter of corn, soybeans, third major exporter of wheat and five shipper.

December corn futures fell 21.5 USC, or 3.3% on Friday to $ US6.285 bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. It took a week down to 11%, the largest decline since 1996.

November soy futures fell 50c, or 3.3%, to $ US14.48 bushel, down a total of 9,3% and the biggest drop in four months.

But the price was still 70% last year, after reaching a record high of $ US16.3675 earlier this month.

September wheat futures fell 5.5 USC, to $ US8.04 bushel; drop to 3.2% compared with week.The price to continue to work 29% last year, reaching a record $ US13.495 in late February.

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A copper, with other significant indicators of industrial demand goes, placing second weekly decline as supply increased, and economic growth in China, the world's largest consumer of the metal.

Inventories rose 13% last week at 42935 tons, the highest since late May.

Chinese production in the six months to June rose 19% over the first half of 2007, but China's imports of copper and alloys dropped 19% last month from June 2007, a good indicator of the current level of demand in a country where power shortage is the reduction of production aluminium, lead, zinc and copper, possibly in the present.

Comex September copper futures fell to 4.6 USC $ US3.669 pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price fell 1.9% as compared to the week after dropping 5.3% a week ago.

Price September the most active futures contracts dropped 14% from $ US4.2605 pound record set on May 5 on fears that slowing global economic growth and reduce consumption in China will be below demand.

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