LONDON: Commodity prices mainly fell this week in low-volume trade on the back of weak Chinese economic data, while many participants were away for an extended Christmas and New Year break.

Beijing released figures on Friday showing that growth in China’s services sector slowed sharply in December.

The data followed news on Wednesday and Thursday that manufacturing in the country had also suffered a slowdown in growth last month.

On the upside, precious metals eked out slender gains following heavy losses during 2013.

Base metals: Base or industrial metals prices mostly slid as the poor Chinese data cast a shadow over markets.

“The lower than expected China non-manufacturing PMI figure in December has got metals lower,” said Richard Fu, director of Asian commodities trading at Newedge.

By Friday on the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell to $7,341 a tonne from $7,385 a week earlier.

Three-month aluminium increased to $1,798 a tonne from $1,784.

Three-month lead dropped to $2,204 a tonne from $2,265.

Three-month tin gained to $21,550 a tonne from $22,949.

Three-month nickel fell to $13,846 a tonne from $14,344.

Three-month zinc declined to $2,051.75 a tonne from $2,096.75.

Precious metals: Gold rebounded slightly, having suffered a 28-per cent slump in 2013 on the back of weaker demand and easing inflation.

“Gold continues to shine in these early days of 2014,” said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.

By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rose to $1,234.50 an ounce from $1,214.50 a week earlier.

Silver climbed to $20.18 an ounce from $19.92.

On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum increased to $1,388 an ounce from $1,374.Palladium advanced to $723 an ounce from $711.

Oil: Prices fell heavily, hit hard by news that a major Libyan field could come back on line later this week, while the Chinese data also weighed.

By Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February dropped to $108.25 a barrel from $111.83 a week earlier.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate or light sweet crude for February fell to $95.45 a barrel from $99.62.

Coffee: Prices touched multi-week lows this week on the back of heavy speculative selling, dealers said.

Prices sank in 2013 by 24pc in New York and 12pc in London, hit by plentiful supplies.

By Friday on the ICE Futures US exchange, Arabica for delivery in March dipped to 111.65 US cents a pound from 117 cents a week earlier.

On LIFFE, Robusta for March fell to $1,596 a tonne from $1,699.

Sugar: Prices fell over the week, and slid by about 15pc during 2013, as the market was hit once again by abundant supplies.

By Friday on LIFFE, the price of a tonne of white sugar for March slipped to $443 from $444.10 a week earlier.

On the ICE Futures US exchange in New York, the price of unrefined sugar for delivery in March fell to 16.24 US cents a pound from 16.32 cents.

Rubber: Prices in Kuala Lumpur fell further due to inactivity amid year-end festivities.

The Malaysian Rubber Board’s benchmark SMR20 slid to 225.50 US cents a kilo from 229.25 cents the previous week.—AFP