NEW YORK: Oil prices slipped on Monday as supply worries eased after announcements that a Libyan oilfield and an Iraqi pipeline would resume operations, but the dollar's decline helped gold and copper rebound from last week's steep slide.
Among grains, US corn prices rose on worries about forecasts for stressful Midwest heat later in the month and new-crop soybeans followed corn higher. Wheat advanced on demand for US grain exports and concerns about crops in Russia.
In New York's soft commodity markets, ICE raw sugar futures turned higher for the first time in over a week, bouncing on chart-based buying. And Arabica and Liffe robusta coffee climbed on support from US dollar softness.
The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index jumped to its highest level in 2-1/2 weeks, rising nearly 0.7 percent with metals, grains and some softs markets.
Brent crude oil was down as the announced return of a Libyan oilfield and an Iraqi pipeline eased concerns about global oil supplies. The decline followed an early rally to a three-month high above $108 a barrel after deadly protests in Egypt.
Libya's major Sharara oilfield will resume operations after an agreement was reached with the armed group that shut it down last month, and a pipeline from Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan will resume operations in two to three days following an interruption caused by a leak.
Brent the European benchmark, settled down 29 cents at $107.43 a barrel, after hitting $108.04 earlier, its highest since April 4. US crude slipped 8 cents to end at $103.14 after touching a new 14-month high of $104.12.
"In spite of a slightly lower close, the crude markets are still receiving underlying support off of a need to maintain some geopolitical risk premium related to civil unrest in Egypt," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois, wrote in a research note.
Meanwhile, gold jumped as the dollar's rally was interrupted and investors found value after bullion prices fell to one-week lows on Friday. Concerns that the US central bank could soon begin cutting its monetary stimulus program pressured gold.
Bullion had fallen 10 percent since last month when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested the US economy was recovering enough for the Fed's $85 billion monthly bond-buying stimulus measures to be reduced later this year. Such a move would bolster the dollar, making gold less attractive.
But dollar weakness lifted spot gold 1.07 percent to $1,236.36 per ounce by 4:15 EDT (2015 GMT).
The US dollar edged off three-year highs against major currencies, but looked poised to resume gains after last week's strong US jobs report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve would scale back stimulus.
US employers added 195,000 new jobs to their nonfarm payrolls last month, indicating that improvement in the jobs market remains on track, according to Labor Department data released on Friday.
Copper, too, rose in response to the dollar's retreat, recovering from a sharp decline on Friday when investors worried about growth prospects in China and Europe. Those concerns took a back seat on Monday, but held gains in check.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange ended at $6,830 a tonne, up from Friday's close of $6,789.
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