Brent Crude Falls 1% After Nearing Five-Month High as Gold Slips

Brent crude fell 1% to $108.48 a barrel at 12:09 p.m. ET (16:09 UTC) on Oct. 20, reversing an earlier climb near a five-month high as gold weakened and copper gained.

At the same time, copper rose 0.2% to $14,404 per metric ton, while gold fell 0.2% to $4,152.10 per troy ounce. Copper was the only gainer among the three commodities in the midday snapshot.

Earlier, Brent traded near a five-month high as traders weighed Houthi strikes on Saudi infrastructure and reported attacks on ships in the Gulf. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $4,120.87 an ounce at 7:03 a.m. ET (11:03 UTC), hours before the midday commodity snapshot.

“Persistent inflationary pressures, driven by high energy prices, continue to support expectations of further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve,” said ActivTrades director and CEO Ricardo Evangelista. The prospect of higher rates can make investments that pay a yield more attractive than gold.

The intraday split comes amid a wider divergence between copper and gold in 2026. Copper had risen 15.8% this year, while gold futures had fallen 4.11%.