Metals up on week

Metals prices continued to rise on Friday, while crude oil prices rose a bit after having dropped substantially over the previous two sessions.

Among base metals, three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange added $55 for the day and was up more than 6 percent during the week to $2,930 per tonne after rising as high as $2,941 per tonne during the day. Zinc added $5 on Friday and over 8 percent during the week to $3,445 per tonne.

Copper , which has gained 70 percent since the beginning of the year, added another $15 on Friday to $7,647 per tonne as inventories slipped even further and Mexican and South American strikes interrupted supplies.

The gains this week came on low trade volumes due to holidays in Japan and China. Prices were also helped higher by comments from executives of miner BHP Billiton that suggested prices will stay high until global inventories become more plentiful.

Among precious metals, gold was up $2 on Friday and over 3 percent for the week to $678.40/$679.40 per troy ounce late in the day in Europe after going as high as $684.10 per troy ounce earlier in the session.

Silver held steady on Friday and added 20 cents during the week at $13.85/$13.95 per troy ounce. Silver prices were up and down during the week however, trading as high as $14 and as low as $12 at times.