Oil prices broke above 50 dollars a barrel for the first time in volatile trading last week as unrest in major producer Nigeria fuelled concerns about supplies ahead of winter in the northern hemisphere.
Metals hit fresh highs, boosted by heavy buying from speculators.
The Commodities Research Bureau's index of 17 commodities rose to 283.22 points on Friday from 280.11 a week earlier. It spiked at 285.37 points on Thursday, the highest level for 23 years.
GOLD: Gold prices rose to the highest level for more than five months helped by heavy buying from speculative funds as the dollar tumbled against the euro and oil prices rocketed to record summits.
Gold climbed to 418.15 dollars an ounce at Friday's morning fixing, the highest level since mid-April.
"Pressure on the dollar has seen gold edge over the 415-dollar level," said James Moore, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com specialist website. "Fund buying on the back of the (rising) euro has been the main culprit."
Moore added: "The market seems generally happy to test higher with the combination of dollar weakness, geopolitical tensions and high oil prices all indicating a test to 425 dollars and potentially the year's high of 432 dollars."
The euro reached 10-week high points against the dollar on Thursday, breaking beyond 1.24 dollars amid caution ahead of the weekend's Group of Seven meeting and as oil prices remained high.
A weaker dollar makes gold, which is priced in the US currency on world markets, more attractive to buyers using other currencies. By Friday afternoon, gold prices stood at 418.10 dollars per ounce on the London Bullion Market against 407.85 a week earlier.
SILVER: Silver prices mirrored the performance of gold, jumping to the highest level for more than five months.
Silver prices broke through 6.90 dollars an ounce on Thursday for the first time since April 20.
"Silver is busy rallying again as base metals are back up at levels seen in the first quarter of 2004," UBS analyst John Reade said.
"Speculators have added to their already-long position in silver, but probably have the capacity to lift the white metal back above seven dollars per ounce, perhaps to 7.50 dollars if they are determined," he added.
Silver prices rose to 6.840 dollars per ounce on Friday against 6.420 a week earlier.
PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM: Platinum and palladium prices advanced strongly as strikes broke out in several mines across leading producer South Africa.
Platinum prices climbed to 875 dollars an ounce on Tuesday, the highest point since mid-August, while palladium spiked to 224 dollars an ounce for the first time since July 22.
South Africa's Anglo Platinum company, the world's leading producer of platinum, said Friday that two of its mines were hit by a miners' strike but insisted the work stoppage had not affected production.
Workers at Anglo Platinum, which operates six mines in South Africa, joined about 17,000 fellow unionists who launched a strike on Wednesday at a separate mining group, Impala Platinum.
But Anglo Platinum said the strike only affected two mines and that fewer than 10,000 of its 30,000 employees were taking part.
"The uncertainty around the possibility of material interruptions to South African production has continued to drive the platinum market," Reade said.
By Friday, platinum prices stood at 862 dollars per ounce on the London Platinum and Palladium Market, against 855 dollars a week earlier.
Palladium prices traded at 222 dollars per ounce against 221 the previous week.
BASE METALS: Base metals prices bounced higher, in particular aluminium which soared to the highest level for nine years on buying from speculative funds.
Aluminium rose to as high as 1,849 dollars per tonne, while nickel climbed to 16,000 dollars per tonne - the highest peak since January 9 - and zinc to 1,115 dollars, the highest price since April 5.
"Prices in general stopped for a time early this week, then from Wednesday we've seen huge moves both up and down," Societe Generale analyst Stephen Briggs said. "It has been very volatile."
He added: "Really the story is massive hedge funds' speculative buying. It has caused a complete turnaround in sentiment."
By Friday, three-month copper prices stood at 2,979 dollars per tonne on the London Metal Exchange from 2,919 dollars a week earlier.
Three-month aluminium prices rose to 1,815 dollars per tonne from 1,809.
Three-month nickel prices dollars surged to 15,510 dollars per tonne from 14,800.
Three-month lead prices advanced to 925 dollars per tonne from 915.
Three-month zinc prices progressed to 1,115.50 dollars per tonne from 1,025.
Three-month tin prices edged up to 9,010 dollars per tonne from 9,000.
OIL: World oil prices surged beyond 50 dollars a barrel during a roller-coaster week in which supply worries were fuelled by unrest in Nigeria but calmed somewhat by an unexpected increase in weekly US crude inventories.
The price of oil broke the 50-dollar mark on Monday for the first time in the 21-year history of oil futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices hit all-time peaks of 50.47 dollars in out-of-hours deals in New York on Tuesday and 46.80 dollars in London the same day amid unrest in Nigeria.
The surge in prices came after a separatist movement in Nigeria threatened to wage war in the troubled Niger Delta region, warning oil majors and foreign nationals to leave by Friday.
The delta pumps all of Nigeria's 2.3 million barrels per day of light, sweet low-sulphur crude which is most suitable for refining into petrol.
Prices cooled slightly on Wednesday after US crude oil inventories showed a surprise increase, a week after tumbling to their lowest levels since February.
The Department of Energy said crude oil reserves rose by 3.4 million barrels in the week to September 24 to 272.9 million barrels, a week after a spectacular drop of 9.1 million barrels due to Hurricane Ivan.
But inventories of distillates, including heating oil, are in short supply, analysts warned, sparking worries ahead of winter.
"In the same way that gasoline shortages did earlier this year, tight winter heating fuel markets look likely to exert strong upward pressure on crude oil prices over the coming months," Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said. With markets uncertain of a peaceful outcome in Nigeria, prices threatened to climb above 50 dollars once more before falling on Friday as Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo warned that his government would not tolerate any "undue militancy" in the oil-rich Niger Delta. New York's light sweet crude for delivery in November climbed to 49.32 dollars per barrel on Friday against 48.35 a week earlier.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for November delivery rose to 46.08 dollars per barrel from 44.82 a week earlier.
RUBBER: Rubber prices picked up thanks to good demand, notably from tyre makers.
"Some more buying interest has started to develop. There is reasonable consumer interest from the tyre sector," one dealer in London said.
The rainy season started in producer countries Thailand and Malaysia in late September, but so far has not affected collection of latex, he said.
"Most of the increase is because of demand. There is no shortage of supply," the trader added.
In Osaka, the RSS 3 November contract rose to 140 US cents on Friday from 139.90 a week earlier.
Singapore's RSS 3 November contract stood at 125.50 cents from 124.75 the previous Friday.
COCOA: Cocoa futures headed lower as worries about the impact of a spell of unfavourable weather in Ivory Coast on next year's crop began to recede.
"Arguably, the bias is lower based on the weather concerns having run their course and traders having discounted prognostications that the Ghana and Ivory Coast crops might be smaller than last season's (2003/04) bumper levels," said Refco analyst Ann Prendergast.
"Seasonally, cocoa prices have a tendency to fade at this time of year."
On LIFFE, London's futures exchange, the price of cocoa for December delivery fell to 838 pounds per tonne from 858 a week earlier.
On the CSCE, the New York futures market, the December contract dropped to 1,458 dollars per tonne from 1,493 the previous week.
COFFEE: Coffee prices scaled new four-month summits in New York amid worries about the impact of the US hurricane season on stocks in Florida as well as a lack of rain in Brazil.
But prices ended the week lower as traders locked in profits.
Coffee futures hit 86.40 cents a pound in New York on Monday, the highest point since May 28. In London they rose to 710 dollars per tonne on Tuesday, the highest levels since mid-August, before paring gains.
"Coffee futures are receding from their (Hurricane) Ivan-influenced highs at the start of the week," Refco's Prendergast noted on Friday.
"Lack of rain in Brazil and concerns over smaller crop are fundamentally supportive," she added.
On LIFFE, Robusta quality for November declined to 640 dollars per tonne on Friday from 675 a week earlier.
On New York's CSCE market, Arabica for December delivery dipped to 79.95 cents per pound from 82.60.
COTTON: Cotton futures started the week on a positive note but fell sharply on Thursday despite some positive fundamental factors, including a rise in US export sales.
The US Department of Agriculture reported a jump of 57 percent in weekly cotton export sales to 219,500 bales in the week to September 23.
New York's December contract stood at 46.50 cents per pound on Friday from 48.40 a week earlier.
The Cotton Outlook Index of physical cotton fell to 54.85 cents on Thursday against 55.70 the previous week.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Soya and grain prices remained under pressure, as the International Grains Council again raised its production forecasts.
World grain production is set to rise to 1.578 billion tonnes in the 2004/05 season, a rise of 7.8 percent from the previous one, the IGC said.
Consumption is seen increasing by 2.3 percent to 1.564 million tonnes.
Wheat prices are at the lowest level since January 2003 in London, while maize is at a one-year trough in Chicago.
On LIFFE, wheat for November delivery stood at 61.50 pounds per tonne on Friday from 62 a week earlier.
In Chicago, the price of wheat for December delivery fell to 306.5 cents per bushel from 326.
Maize for December delivery dropped to 205.75 cents per bushel from 207.
Soyabeans for November delivery eased to 533.25 cents per bushel from 533.
October-dated soyabean meal - used in animal feed - retreated to 156.50 dollars per tonne from 158.50.
Soyabean prices have fallen by 50 percent over the past six months to two-month lows.
SUGAR: Sugar futures climbed on a flurry of speculative buying, notably in New York where prices reached a one-and-a-half-year high, against a background of strong demand and a production deficit.
By Friday on LIFFE, the price of a tonne of white sugar for December delivery stood at 240 dollars from 238.80 a week earlier. On the CSCE in New York, a pound of unrefined sugar for March delivery rose to 8.91 cents from 8.63 the previous week.
WOOL: Wool prices fell by 2.7 percent in number one producer Australia as an appreciation of the Australian dollar against its US counterpart deterred buying.
Wool prices "struggled all week under pressure from further strengthening of the US exchange rate, the comparison with the better-styled fine wools selling in Newcastle last week and a lack of widespread demand," the Australian Wool Industries Secretariat said.
"The buying pattern was very much dominated by purchases for China." The Australian Eastern index fell to 7.44 Australian dollars per kilo from 7.67 a week earlier.
The British Wooltops index dropped to 402 pence from 418 a week earlier.
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