Oil prices rebounded this week, lifted by sabotage attacks on key pipelines in Iraq that halted the country's exports and reignited concerns over supply.
Precious metals also rallied as speculative funds rushed to invest in the so-called "safe-havens" in the wake of bloody violence in Iraq as the troubled country prepares to regain its sovereignty on June 30.
Coffee prices fell sharply as frost failed to materialise in leading producer Brazil.
The Commodities Research Bureau's index of 17 commodities rose to 270.09 points on Friday from 269.93 a week earlier.
GOLD: Gold prices surged, helped by heavy buying from speculative funds towards the end of the week.
"Violence in the Middle East seemed to be the biggest influence over the gold market," said analyst James Moore.
"Middle East tension will continue to encourage safe-haven buying.
"Gold should continue to trade in a range between 380 and 390 dollars for the moment but will fall heavily ahead of the Fed's rate decision at the end of the month," he added.
The US Federal Reserve was expected to hike interest rates by a quarter point to 1.25 percent on June 30
By Friday gold prices rose to 395.10 dollars per ounce on the London Bullion Market from 384.85 dollars a week earlier.
SILVER: Silver prices also benefited from speculative-fund buying and violence in Iraq, where 41 people were killed and 145 injured in twin car bomb attacks on Thursday.
"Silver continued to trade largely in line with gold," Moore said.
Silver prices climbed to 5.950 dollars per ounce on Friday from 5.690 dollars a week earlier.
PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM: Platinum and palladium prices overcame pressure caused by an absence of buying from China to finish the week on a high note. "Platinum continues to trade quietly near the recent lows and palladium has barely recovered any ground from its recent plunge," UBS analyst John Read said.
By Friday, platinum prices lifted to 807 dollars per ounce on the London Platinum and Palladium Market from 795 dollars a week earlier.
Palladium prices dollars stood at 229 dollars per ounce from 218 dollars.
BASE METALS: Base metal prices rebounded, led by nickel, as worries about a slowdown in the Chinese economy receded, analysts said.
Base metals "have recovered quite impressively. Nickel is the one that stands out", Societe Generale analyst Stephen Briggs said.
"The fundamentals are good, the China story is not so bad after all, the market has been unduly worried about China," he added.
Base metal prices have slumped in recent weeks as China took measures to cool its economy, which has heated in part because of a voracious appetite for raw materials.
By Friday, three-month copper prices climbed to 2,602 dollars per tonne on the London Metal Exchange from 2,540.50 dollars a week earlier.
Three-month aluminium prices rose to 1,704.50 dollars per tonne from 1,637.
Three-month nickel prices surged to 14,710 dollars per tonne from 12,550.
Three-month lead prices advanced to 847 dollars per tonne from 764.
Three-month tin prices stood at 8,930 dollars per tonne from 8,775. Three-month zinc prices traded at 1,029.50 dollars per tonne from 1,043.
OIL: Oil prices rallied this week, lifted by violence in major producers Iraq and Saudi Arabia and a strike by oil workers in Norway - the world's third biggest exporter of crude.
Deadly bomb blasts in Iraq on Thursday came 24 hours after the security chief for Iraq's northern oil fields, Ghazi Talabani, was assassinated.
Meanwhile, oil exports from southern Iraq were blocked after sabotage attacks on pipelines near the port of Basra earlier in the week.
The exports were expected to resume Sunday, a coalition official in southern Iraq told AFP on Friday.
The southern oil fields had produced 1.6-1.8 million barrels per day before the sabotage around Basra, 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of Baghdad.
Iraq's southern terminals have been the main gateway for oil exports since last year, when insurgents launched a relentless campaign of sabotage against the northern city of Kirkuk's pipeline to a Mediterranean terminal in Turkey.
Oil prices won support this week also from a renewed warning by the United States for its citizens to leave oil kingpin Saudi Arabia immediately because of terrorist threats in the Gulf kingdom.
The renewal came as a Friday deadline set by Islamic militants to kill an American hostage loomed.
Meanwhile, the start of an indefinite strike by some 200 Norwegian oil workers Friday also helped to lift prices. The climb in prices came as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said it would call on non-member producers to increase output. OPEC has pledged to increase its output ceiling by 2.5 million barrels per day by August 1 in a bid to push down prices which at current levels are seen as a threat to the global economic recovery by aggravating inflation.
By Friday, the price of benchmark Brent North Sea crude oil for July delivery rose to 35.95 dollars per barrel in late London trading from 35.60 dollars a week earlier.
In New York, the reference light sweet crude July contract stood at 38.45 dollars on Friday, unchanged from Thursday of the previous week, when it had shut a day early for the state funeral of former US president Ronald Reagan.
RUBBER: Rubber prices climbed this week, boosted by buying from investment funds, dealers said. "It has been a dull market which finished on a high note on Friday," one London trader said.
In Osaka, the RSS 3 July contract rose to 158 cents on Friday against 152.20 cents a week earlier.
Singapore's RSS 3 contract for July stood at 138.25 cents against 136.75 cents.
COCOA: Cocoa prices stabilised as violence in leading producer Ivory Coast eased.
"Violence in Ivory Coast has subsided but it is expected to continue on a sporadic basis," Refco analyst Ann Prendergast said.
Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan had witnessed a wave of anti-French violence during the previous week. On LIFFE, London's futures exchange, the price of cocoa for September delivery stood at 783 pounds per tonne on Friday from 789 pounds a week earlier.
On the CSCE, the New York futures market, the July contract closed at 1,348 dollars per tonne on Friday from 1,347 dollars on Thursday of the previous week.
COFFEE: Coffee prices fell sharply as warmer weather in leading producer Brazil ended worries about an arrival of frost that would have damaged crops.
"Coffee futures washed out... after frost failed to materialise in Brazil and warm weather entered the area," Prendergast said.
Prices in New York recently reached their highest level for almost four years on frost fears.
On LIFFE, Robusta quality for September delivery slumped to 784 dollars per tonne on Friday, from 838 dollars a week earlier.
On New York's CSCE market, Arabica for July delivery fell to 76.20 cents per pound from 83.25 cents.
COTTON: Cotton prices fell, weighed down as a result of selling by speculative funds, as the market anticipated a bumper US crop.
"Futures plunged as speculative selling continued to weigh on the market," Prendergast said.
New York's July contract dropped to 52 cents per pound on Friday from 58.15 cents on Thursday of the previous week.
The Cotton Outlook Index of physical cotton, the average of the world's lowest prices, stood at 63 cents on Thursday from 66 cents a week earlier.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Soya prices rose on the back of strong demand, while warm weather in the Midwest region of the United States weighed on grains.
On LIFFE, wheat for July delivery stood at 78 pounds per tonne on Friday from 79 pounds a week earlier.
In Chicago, the price of wheat for July delivery rose to 353 cents per bushel on Friday from 350.50 cents on Thursday of the previous week.
Maize for July delivery slid to 276.50 cents per bushel from 285.75 cents.
Soyabeans for July delivery rose to 867 cents per bushel from 847 cents.
July-dated soyabean meal - used in animal feed - traded at 281 dollars per tonne from 271.30 dollars.
SUGAR: Sugar prices rebounded thanks to buying by speculative funds, which entered the market in anticipation of increased imports by India.
"Sugar futures advanced... on speculative short covering in anticipation that India would have to do some substantial importing because of its shraply reduced 2003/04 harvest," said Prendergast, who added that India's 2004/05 harvest was expected also to disappoint.
On LIFFE, the price of a tonne of white sugar for August stood at 217.50 dollars on Friday from 216.80 dollars a week earlier.
On the CSCE in New York, a pound of unrefined sugar for July delivery stood at 6.85 cents on Friday from 6.75 cents on Thursday of the previous week.
WOOL: Wool prices in leading producer Australia remained at a five-month high points, helped by a weaker Australian dollar that makes the commodity cheaper for buyers abroad.
The Australian Eastern index rose to 8.21 Australian dollars per kilo on Thursday from 8.14 a week earlier.
The British Wooltops index was unchanged at 435 pence on Thursday.
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