Oil and gold

A report which the market awaits to show that U.S. gasoline supplies have advanced for a fourth week makes investors shun buying crude oil futures. Crude oil for July delivery was at $63.22 a barrel, down 27 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the benchmark for Europe, was trading at $67.69 a barrel, down 15 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures exchange.

Gold gained in London on talks that inflation will lure investors into buying the precious metal in search of a hedge against increasing raw material prices. Gold gained $4.02, or 0.6%, to $657.47 an ounce, while silver rose 9 cents, or 0.7%, to $13.27 an ounce.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was virtually unchanged against the euro on Thursday. The euro fetched $1.3437 in early European trading, up from the $1.3436 it bought in New York late Wednesday. The British pound dipped to $1.9744 from $1.9761. The dollar advanced to 121.62 Japanese yen from 121.58 yen on Wednesday.