Commodities were trading mostly higher at the close as protests and unrest in Libya drove prices for both crude oil and gold higher.
Violent clashes between police and protesters spread to Tripoli. The nation's autocratic leader, Moammar Gadhafi, appeared to lose control of some eastern parts of the country to anti-regime forces, The Wall Street Journal reported on its website.
The events in Libya drove crude futures on the first day of trading for the new contract.
Light, sweet crude oil for April delivery preliminarily closed up $4.73, or 5.3%, to $94.42 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 2.96% to $2.79 a gallon while natural gas was down 0.52% to $3.85 per million British thermal units.
In energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund ( USO ) is up 5.58% to $38.37. The United States Natural Gas ETF ( UNG ) is flat at $5.20.
Meanwhile, gold futures surged to top $1,400 amid-safe-haven buying. The dollar also gained strength.
Gold for April delivery finished up 0.9% to $1,401.10 an ounce. In other metal futures, silver was up 1.8% to $32.86 a troy ounce while copper traded down 3.24% to $4.35.
The U.S. dollar index (DXY) is up 0.14% to $77.80.
In metal ETFs, SPDR Gold Trust ( GLD ) is up 0.87% to $136.62. Market Vectors Gold Miners ( GDX ) is down 0.19% to $58.87. iShares Silver Trust ( SLV ) is up 1.77% to $32.35.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
