Commodities fell on Friday, disappointed by the U.S. Federal Reserve's reticence to jump in and stimulate the world's largest economy amid worries that a surprise Chinese rate cut suggested its economy was performing even worse than expected.
Gold slipped, Brent lost more than $1 and copper dropped 2 percent to snap a two-day rise as the dollar strengthened after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech on Thursday, gave no hint that stimulus measures are on the way.
A stronger dollar makes commodities priced in the greenback more expensive, and so less appealing, for investors using other
currencies.
Investors had been waiting for signs of a third round of large-scale bond buying by the Fed to revive an economy that is looking increasingly fragile, and especially as Europe's financial woes appear to be worsening.
China's surprise interest rate cut, the first since the global financial crisis since late 2008, had initially perked up financial markets, as it suggested the world's second largest economy was addressing its slowing growth.
But that was before some investors became convinced the government may be trying to pre-empt the impact of a slew of dreadful data due out this weekend.
"The Chinese decision was a bit surprising. Cutting rates did signal that they are pre-empting something that either they know about or just a risk that's clearly ahead of us," said Jeremy Friesen, commodity strategist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong.
Brent crude for July delivery was down $1.41 at $98.52 a barrel by 0421 GMT. It fell as low as $98.26 earlier, dropping for a second straight session and purging weekly gains to trade largely flat from last Friday.
U.S. oil slid more than $2 to a session low of $82.59 per barrel, before cutting losses to trade at $83.07, down $1.75. If it sustains losses, U.S. crude is heading for a sixth consecutive week of decline.
London copper fell 2 percent to $7,348.25 a tonne, also at risk of extending its losing streak to a sixth week.
Gold shed 1.4 percent to $1,567.19 an ounce, falling for a second session and eyeing its second weekly loss in three weeks, after Bernanke's comments dampened gold's appeal as a hedge against easing.
