Crude fell as a government report showed inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, rose to the highest level in nine months last week and Saudi Arabia pledged to make up for any shortage in global supply.

Prices fell as much as 1 percent after the Energy Department said stockpiles at Cushing, the delivery point for futures traded in New York, increased 7 percent to 38.7 million barrels. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in Kuwait at the International Energy Forum that oil markets are balanced and have ample production and refining capacity.

Crude for April delivery slid to $105.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after climbing as high as $107.02. Brent oil for April settlement fell 39 cents to $125.83 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The price of gold fell to its lowest level since late January, as the dollar strengthened after the increase in economic forecasting U.S. Federal Reserve.

Gold has lost almost all of the profits accumulated from January 25, when the Fed hinted at the possibility of additional stimulus measures.

The dollar rose to a 11-month high against the yen and U.S. government bond yields rose. Improved economic outlook encourages investors to seek riskier investments such as stocks.

April futures price of gold on COMEX has fallen today to $ 1639.2 an ounce.

Change % Change Last

Oil $106.73 +0.02 +0.02%

Gold $1,671.30 -22.90 -1.35%