* Optimism about Spain bailout helps markets
* Brent crude up over 1 pct on day but 4.5 pct lower for
week
* Gold comes within striking range of 2012 high
* Copper rises on hopes over Fed, ECB stimulus measures
* Wheat rallies as Russia raises possibility of export curbs
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for a second
day and most other commodities gained on Friday after a rocky
start to the week as investors turned more positive about the
economic outlook and the likelihood cash-strapped Spain will
obtain a rescue.
Gold rose to within a whisker of its 2012 high, helped by
technical momentum and the impact of stimulus efforts undertaken
by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
Copper ended up on speculation the monetary stimulus will
boost liquidity and demand for metals in the global economy,
especially in China, with its huge raw materials needs.
On the agricultural side, wheat prices rallied as Russia's
economy minister raised the possibility of grain export curbs by
the world's third-largest wheat shipper.
The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index finished up
0.7 percent after 15 of the 19 commodities on the index settled
higher. Natural gas and coffee led gains, rising about 3 percent
each.
Even so, the CRB ended the week down by nearly 4 percent
after weakness in the first four sessions. The loss came on a
broad selloff as investors focused on signs of weak growth after
having built bullish positions for weeks, anticipating easing by
major central banks.
"We've skimmed a little froth out of the market in the sense
that it probably got a little bit overbought within a very
concentrated period of time against a background of global
easing," said Michael Turek, senior director on Newedge's New
York metals desk.
Brent crude oil in London settled up 1.3 percent at
$111.42 a barrel on speculation that Spain may soon request
financial aid to help ease its debt crisis.
Oil was also supported by unrest in the Middle East and
North Africa, and delays in North Sea oil shipments. U.S. crude
finished up 47 cents at $92.89.
For the week, however, both markets fell, with Brent
tumbling 4.5 percent drop and U.S. crude falling almost 6
percent. The week's losses resulted from a combination of
economic worries, rising U.S. crude stockpiles and talk that
Saudi Arabia was willing to supply more oil to tame prices.
The spot price of gold was up 0.3 percent at
$1,772.96 an ounce by 3:20 p.m. (1920 GMT) after hitting a high
of $1,787.20, within reach of the 2012 high of $1,790.30.
Investors have been aggressively buying short-dated call
options in gold with the $2,000 an ounce strike price, said
Jeffrey Sherman, commodity portfolio manager at DoubleLine
Capital LP, which manages $45 billion in assets.
"There are a lot of hedge funds that bought call options a
week or two ago. There have been big buyers after the Fed has
committed to the monetization of debt," Sherman said.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
ended up $16.50 at $8,281.50 per tonne. Earlier in the week, it
hit a 4-1/2 month high of $8,422, before touching a low of
$8,266 in Friday's session.
"I don't see anything destructive in the fact that we are
still knocking around $8,300. I would call that mildly
constructive," said Turek of Newedge.
U.S. wheat prices jumped 2 percent after Russia, which
accounted for 14 percent of the world's wheat trade in 2011/12,
said it may curb exports of the grain if domestic prices
continued to rise.
Any restriction on Russian exports would open the door to
increased sales of U.S. and European wheat, traders said,
although a large percentage of the U.S. wheat supply is already
committed and shipped out.
Wheat futures for December delivery on the Chicago
Board of Trade rose 17-3/4 cents to $8.97-1/4 a bushel, passing
through its 50-day moving average. For the week, the contract
posted a slight loss, its first decline in four weeks.
Prices at 4:33 p.m. EDT (2032 GMT)
LAST/ NET PCT YTD
CLOSE CHG CHG CHG
US crude 93.08 0.66 0.7% -5.8%
Brent crude 111.59 1.56 1.4% 3.9%
Natural gas 2.885 0.088 3.1% -3.5%
US gold 1778.00 7.80 0.4% 13.5%
Gold 1773.04 5.85 0.3% 13.4%
US Copper 380.35 3.10 0.8% 10.7%
LME Copper 8281.50 11.50 0.1% 9.0%
Dollar 79.363 -0.048 -0.1% -1.0%
CRB 308.980 2.050 0.7% 1.2%
US corn 751.00 1.50 0.2% 16.2%
US soybeans 1622.00 4.25 0.3% 35.3%
US wheat 908.00 16.50 1.9% 39.1%
US Coffee 173.30 4.70 2.8% -24.1%
US Cocoa 2521.00 2.00 0.1% 19.5%
US Sugar 19.38 0.17 0.9% -16.6%
US silver 34.567 -0.051 -0.1% 23.8%
US platinum 1637.10 13.70 0.8% 16.5%
US palladium 670.05 10.45 1.6% 2.1%
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