West Texas Intermediate crude fell for the fourth time in five days as Libya’s oil production increased and President Bashar al-Assad said Syria will make available information about its chemical weapons.

Prices dropped as much as 0.5 percent. Output will rise following the reopening of two oil fields, according to Libya’s Oil Ministry. Syria will open sensitive facilities to international inspectors, Assad said in a televised interview. WTI jumped 2.5 percent yesterday as the Federal Reserve maintained monthly bond purchases to stimulate economic growth.

Crude rose earlier as U.S. jobless claims increased less than forecast last week. Applications for unemployment benefits climbed to 309,000, the Labor Department reported. Economists called for an increase to 330,000.

WTI for October delivery, which expires tomorrow, slid 28 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $107.79 a barrel at 9:55 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It surged 2.5 percent yesterday, the biggest increase since Aug. 27. The volume of all futures traded was 2.4 percent above the 100-day average. The more active November contract was down 39 cents at $106.89.

Brent for November settlement slid 81 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $109.79 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 20 percent above 100-day average. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $2.89 to WTI for the same month, down from yesterday’s $3.32.

Gold prices rose after the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to leave unchanged its program to buy bonds . A promise to continue to pursue a policy of "cheap money " has increased the demand for the precious metal.

As in other markets , the market for precious metals investors were waiting for the partial collapse of the program to purchase bonds worth 85 billion dollars a month.

In the first years after the financial crisis, many investors invest their money in gold on concerns over the fact that alternative program the Fed to stimulate the economy , known as quantitative easing , will lead to higher inflation . Investors who put their initials on the rise , believed that gold better than other assets retain their value in an inflationary environment.

However , inflation has not reached alarming levels , while the Fed's balance sheet exceeded 3 trillion dollars. Despite the observed immediately after the announcement of the Fed's decision on Wednesday, rising gold prices , it remains one of the assets , showed the worst results this year.

Some analysts believe that the Fed's decision until the collapse of bond purchases once again shifted the market's attention to inflation risks . Even many experts had expected the central bank to reduce the amount of programs to stimulate the economy. Other brokers prefer not to put a special meaning in the Fed's decision , saying that gold prices are likely to continue to decline.

The cost of the October gold futures on COMEX today rose to $ 1375.50 per ounce.

GOLD 1,366.40 57.00 4.35%

OIL (WTI) 108.24 2.82 2.68%