Oil hits 6-month peak, silver in 30-yr high, cotton nears record

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LONDON, Nov 4(Agencies): World oil prices hit fresh six-month peaks Thursday as the dollar slumped on the back of the US Federal Reserve's new huge stimulus package aimed at boosting the American economy.
Cotton advanced for a fifth day in New York to trade near a record and prices in Zhengzhou advanced to near an all-time high on concern that global demand led by China will outstrip supplies. Gold surged more than one per cent while silver advanced to a 30-year high Thursday in Singapore.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December delivery rallied as high as 87.59 dollars, reaching a level last seen on May 4. It later stood at 87.46, up 1.08 dollars from Wednesday's close.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December, surged to a similar high point at 86.05 dollars, before pulling back to 85.88, up 1.19 dollars.
The dollar tumbled on Thursday after the Fed announced that it would launch a new asset-buying plan, or quantitative easing (QE), worth 600 billion dollars, to bolster the nation's sluggish economic recovery.
In reaction, the European single currency soared to 1.4264 dollars, reaching the highest level since January 20, as traders fretted that the Fed policy could water down the value of the US unit.
Meanwhile, December gold was seen trading at $1,355.50 an ounce at 12.00 noon Singapore time after tapping a high of $1,356.50 in early trade.
Immediate-delivery silver increased as much as 1.2 per cent to $25.1575 an ounce, the costliest since 1980, and traded at $25.0750 on the same time.
Cotton for December delivery rose as much as 1.6 percent to $1.377 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. and
traded at $1.375 at 4:04 p.m. Tokyo time. The price reached $1.392 yesterday, the highest level since the fiber started trading 140 years ago.
"There's been an increase in purchases by commercial hedgers who are concerned about tightening supplies, especially in China," said Han Sung Min, a broker at Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co. in Seoul.
Cotton has surged 80 percent this year, the best-performing commodity on the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index. Prices are rallying on concern that a production deficit in China may be wider than estimated, forcing mills to import more from global stockpiles that already are forecast to drop to a 14-year low.