Natural Gas Market Update

January natural gas NGF15, +0.71%  lost 6 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $3.6420 per million British thermal units.

January heating oil HOF5, +0.27%  dropped 7 cents, or 3.5%, to $1.9387 a gallon on Nymex. That was heating oil’s lowest finish since Aug. 24, 2010.

Oil Market Update

Oil futures fell 4% on Thursday, capping a volatile day of trading that saw the commodity swing by around $4 a barrel in either direction.

Light, sweet crude for delivery in January CLF5, +0.74%  fell $2.36, or 4.2%, to settle at $54.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

That was oil’s lowest settlement since May 5, 2009. Futures traded as low as $54.05 and as high as $58.73 a barrel earlier.

Brent oil for February delivery LCOG5, +0.22%  declined $1.91, or 3.1%, to finish at $59.27 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. That was Brent’s lowest settle value since May 19, 2009.

Platinum Market Update

January platinum PLF5, +0.18%  lost $2.40, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,197.10 an ounce, while March palladium PAH5, +0.01%  gained $12.90, or 1.7%, to end at $792.15 an ounce. 

High-grade copper for March delivery HGH5, +0.12%  lost 2 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $2.85 a pound.