(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Light Crude 81.98 -0.27%

Gold 1,211.80 -1.07%

Brent crude rose to a two-week high after OPEC's Secretary-General said the recent plunge in prices doesn't reflect the balance between supply and demand. West Texas Intermediate gained before government inventory data.

Both grades are rebounding after falling more than 20 percent from this year's high in June. Shale oil drillers will be hurt by the fall in crude prices before members of OPEC because their costs are higher, OPEC's Abdalla El-Badri said in London today. WTI gained on expectations that U.S. stockpiles of gasoline and diesel fell last week.

"OPEC is trying to talk the market up a little bit," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. "A draw in refinery product stocks is going to be bullish. There is some short-covering going on."

Brent for December settlement gained 99 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $87.02 a barrel at 9:25 a.m. New York time on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract reached an intraday high of $87.74, the most since Oct. 14. The volume of all futures was 13 percent below the 100-day average.

WTI for December delivery rose 72 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $82.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Volume was 8 percent below the 100-day average. Brent traded at a premium of $4.88 to WTI on the ICE.

Gold prices fell to a three-week low in anticipation of the announcement of the decision of the US Central Bank.

Market participants are preparing for today's monetary policy meeting, the Fed, the results of which the bank is likely to announce the completion of its enabling asset purchases, known as quantitative easing.

Investors will closely examine the Fed statement to find in it further hints that interest rates will remain near zero for some time in the future.

Market analysts believe that those responsible for the monetary policy of the bank officials reiterated that rates will stay low for an "extended period" and that there was "considerable underutilized" labor market.

Meanwhile, Russia has increased its gold reserves sixth consecutive month in September, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The cost of December gold futures on the COMEX today dropped to 1220.80 dollars per ounce.