Crude-oil futures rallied Friday as a drop in the U.S. dollar and another decline in U.S. rig counts helped prices score their first weekly gain in five weeks.
Traders also positioned themselves before the expiration of the April futures contracts.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April CLJ5, +4.34% which expired at the close Friday, settled at $45.72 a barrel, up $1.76, or 4%. Crude for May CLK5, +2.02% delivery, which became the front month, tacked on $1.04, or 2.3%, to $46.57 a barrel.
In other Comex trading, April platinum PLJ5, +1.60% rose $21.60, or 1.9%, to end at $1,141.20 an ounce, tacking on about 2.3% for the week, while June palladium PAM5, +1.47% rose $13.30, or 1.7%, to $779.10 an ounce, down around 1.2% for the week.
May copper HGK5, +3.42% added 10.1 cents, or 3.8%, to $2.761 a pound—up roughly 3.5% for the week.
Gold futures climbed for a third straight session on Friday to tally a weekly gain of nearly 3% as a sharp drop in the U.S. dollar buoyed investment demand.
Gold for April delivery GCJ5, +1.09% on Comex rose $15.60, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,184.60 an ounce. Prices scored weekly gain of 2.8%, based on the most-active contracts. They settled at their highest level since March 5.