Natural Gas Market Update

Natural gas also for February NGG15, -1.18%  retreated 7 cents, or 2.3%, to $2.8710 per million British thermal units – the lowest settlement for a front-month contract since September 2012.

Elsewhere in energy trading, gasoline for February RBG5, -3.43%  declined 2 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $1.3376 a gallon on Nymex. February heating oil HOG5, +0.55%  dropped 3 cents, or 1.5%, to $1.6999 a gallon on Nymex.

Oil Market Update

U.S. crude oil rose Wednesday, snapping a four-session losing streak after a dip below $47 a barrel earlier in the day.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery CLG5, +1.03% rose 72 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $48.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude for February delivery LCOG5, +0.72%  on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose 5 cents, or 0.1%, to finish at $51.15 a barrel.

It had earlier briefly dropped below the $50-a-barrel mark for the first time since May 2009. Brent retreated 3.8% Tuesday.

Gold Market Update

Gold snapped a three-session winning streak on Wednesday as a rebound in equities lured investors away.

Gold for February delivery GCG5, -0.28% fell $8.70, or 0.7%, to $1,210.70 an ounce, while March silver SIH5, -0.45%  shed 9 cents, or 0.5%, to $16.54 an ounce.

A day earlier, gold prices rallied as the metal’s safe-haven appeal was burnished by the fact that the S&P 500 SPX, +1.16% was extending its losses in 2015 to nearly 3% — about the same amount that gold had risen since the ball dropped on the new year.