Gold $1,323.5 +13.3 +1.02%

ICE Brent Crude Oil $110.49 +0.02 +0.02%

NYMEX Crude Oil $102.82 -0.25 -0.24%

West Texas Intermediate crude slipped from a four-month high after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. inventories climbed. Brent declined.

WTI dropped for the first time in three days. Crude supplies increased 973,000 barrels in the week ended Feb. 14. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a gain of 2.25 million. Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, declined for a third week as the southern leg of TransCanada Corp.’s (TRP) Keystone XL pipeline moved oil to the Gulf Coast.

U.S. crude supplies rose to 362.3 million, the highest level since Dec. 20, the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, said. Distillate fuel, including heating oil and diesel, declined by 339,000 barrels. Analysts had forecast a drop of 2.1 million in the Bloomberg survey.

Inventories at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI futures, fell to 35.9 million barrels, the lowest level since Oct. 25.

WTI for March delivery, which expires today, fell 26 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $103.05 at 11:14 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures were at $103.12 before the report was released at 11 a.m. in Washington. April crude, the most active contract, slid 17 cents to $102.67. The volume of all futures traded was 23 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for April settlement declined 27 cents to $110.20 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 31 percent below the 100-day average. Brent crude was at a premium of $7.53 to WTI for the same month on ICE. The spread settled at $7.63 yesterday.

Gold prices are rising as the dollar's decline and increased demand in the physical market .

In February gold passed the psychologically important level of $ 1,300 , and on Tuesday the price rose to a maximum of 3.5 months $ 1.332,10 .

Recent data from the U.S. Labor Department showed that the number of applications for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week , which is another sign of improvement in the labor market. According to the report , the seasonally adjusted number of initial claims for unemployment benefits fell for the week ending February 15 , 3 thousand , reaching at this level of 336 thousand last value was slightly higher than predicted by experts - at the level of 335 thousand , but still was lower than average at around 344 thousand for the whole of last year .

Dealers expect jewelers will buy gold in times of price reduction , and high import duty on gold in India encourages its smuggling . Margins on gold bars in Singapore remained at last week's $ 1.20-1.50 per ounce to the spot price in London and dealers noted buying in Indonesia and sale of scrap gold in Thailand. Margins on gold bars in Hong Kong are held in the range of $ 1.30-1.50 to the price in London.

The cost of the April gold futures on the COMEX today rose to $1318.00 per ounce.