Markets To Watch Today

Crude Oil: An early rally in Crude Oil yesterday that was brought about by bullish inventory data and continuing concerns over interruptions in supply due to the closure of the Prudhoe Bay Oil field in Alaska slowed towards the end of the trading session. The September Crude Oil contract rose 4 cents, closing at $76.35 a barrel, and the September Unleaded Gasoline contract closed down 5.41 cents at $2.1722 a gallon. The September Heating Oil contract also dropped yesterday, closing at $2.1063 a gallon.

Natural Gas: Traders are expecting today's weekly inventory report to once again show an unprecedented storage withdrawal. The September Natural Gas contract closed up 49.3 cents or 6.9% at $7.651 MMBtu's.

Copper: The labor strike at Escondida in Chile has reached its third day. As a result, Copper futures hit four week highs, and output at the mine has dropped by 60%. The laborers are demanding a minimum 13% wage increase, a hardship zone wage increase, and a $29,300 net bonus. The September Copper contract closed up 10.8 cents at $3.71 a pound.