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Crude oil futures closed lower on Wednesday as renewed fighting in Yemen pushed Brent higher while U.S. crude prices seesawed after a second straight week of production declines despite higher inventories. U.K. North Sea Brent rose more than 1% warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition bombed Yemen a day after Riyadh said it was ending airstrikes against Iranian-allied Houthi rebels. Meanwhile, Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 5.3 million barrels last week, higher than the 2.9-million-barrel build expected by analysts to reach a record 489 million barrels.
GOLD
Gold futures prices plummeted on Wednesday after slipping below $1,200 an ounce, as upbeat U.S. economic data fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve might institute an interest-rate hike by June after all. Gold prices dipped on Wednesday after the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales increased 6.1% last month to 5.19 million, its highest level in 18 months. Economists are expected the figure to tick up to increase to 5.03 million.
