* Key CRB index inches up from one-month closing low
* After early push higher, most markets settle flat
* With little news, traders take cues from US equities
NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) – Commodity markets ended little
changed after a seesaw session on Tuesday, with modest early
gains erased by an afternoon slide in U.S. equities markets on
downbeat earnings indications and end-of-quarter profit-taking.
In a session marked by mostly meandering prices, lackluster
volume and a paucity of fresh indicators, crude oil, gold and
soybeans all closed near the day’s lows, down 1 percent or more
from early-morning peaks that had little fundamental support.
Oil had gained on growing geopolitical risks stemming from tough
U.S. and Iran rhetoric at the United Nations.
The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies commodity index gained
0.25 percent for the day, edging up from Monday’s close which
was a near one-month low. The index tumbled 3.7 percent last
week as some funds locked in gains that preceded the Federal
Reserve’s third push to revive the economy by buying bonds.
With the latest wave of global stimulus now priced in and
secular fundamentals offering few new clues, markets are
struggling for direction, traders say.
“The (oil) market looks tired. It was really up on air
earlier,” said Andy Lebow, vice president at Jefferies Bache.
“The consumer confidence number was quite good but that’s
just one data point in what looks to be a weakening economy.”
Continued…
