Crude oil fell last week despite the prices rose Friday as the U.S. dollar snapped a three-day rally, bolstering the appeal of commodities. In general, supply concerns persisted in Iran and Nigeria continued to pressure the prices. Iran, second- largest Middle East producer, may have to be forcibly prevented from acquiring nuclear technology, an Israeli general said. In Nigeria, militants threatened to attack major oil pipelines in response to claims they took payouts from the government.

Iran, which produced about 3.85 million barrels of oil a day last month, has warned it may blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the export channel for a quarter of the world's crude, if it's attacked. The country has the second-biggest proved oil reserves and is the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a Nigerian militant group, threatened on July 23 to attack a pipeline that feeds two of the country's four refineries. The group, also known as MEND, disputed claims by Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. head Abubakar Yar'Adua in Nigerian newspapers that it took millions of dollars in payouts for allowing repairs to the Chanomi pipeline. The pipeline was attacked in February 2006 and repairs were completed earlier this year. The country's main blue-collar oil workers' union will hold off on resuming a strike over rising fuel costs before planned talks with government officials set for July 29, the group's president said today.

Crude oil for September delivery closed at $126.51 a barrel, down 1.8% for the week. Futures are up 66% from a year ago. Brent crude oil for September settlement settled on $127.51 a barrel or 2.1% weekly decline.

Gold slipped 3.8% last week to $921.15 a troy ounce. Platinum rose Friday, but failed to close the week higher. Friday platinum capped the longest slump since 1997, on speculation that demand will rise in China after futures plunged 17% this month. Platinum settled at $1,758.70 an ounce after falling for nine straight sessions, the longest slide since December 1997. The metal fell 5.2% for the week, after a 9.4% decline week earlier. The metal fell 15% this month. Platinum futures still have gained 15% this year, after a 33% rise in 2007. The metal rose 36% from January through June. Platinum reached a record $2,308.80 on March 4, partly because of output cuts caused by power shortages in South Africa, the world's biggest producer of the metal

Copper declined 0.8% to $7,938 a ton amid LME-monitored copper stockpiles jumped 2,600 tons, or 2%, to 133,475 tons, the highest since March 7. They have increased 8.9% this month. Nickel ended the week with its biggest decline in four months as stainless-steel mills, the biggest users of the metal, said demand is weakening. Jinchuan Group Co., Asia's biggest nickel producer, cut prices by 11% from Friday. Acerinox SA, the world's largest stainless-steel producer, and Finland's Outukumpu Oyj said this week that orders from construction slowed. The contract fell around 10% to $18,240 a metric ton, the lowest intraday price since June 15, 2006. Nickel has fallen 30% this year. Among other metals, aluminum declined to $2,950.25 a ton and zinc fell to $1,825.

Wall Street stocks closed mixed last week, despite Friday’s correction, spurred by strong housing and manufacturing data. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% last week and the Dow average lost 1.1%. The Nasdaq climbed 1.2% in the week. The housing market offered a pleasant surprise, as sales of newly-constructed single-family homes fell only 0.6 per cent to a 530,000 annual pace – a smaller decline than expected. Homebuilders rose 2.2% with a 4% gain for Lennar helping to lead the way.

Technology stocks were the strongest gainers, benefiting from some decent earnings news as well. Google added 3.4%, while Ebay gained 4.1% and the sector advanced 1.6%. Juniper Networks was the biggest winner in the sector after its second-quarter profits jumped 40% and it lifted third-quarter forecasts. Juniper shares surged 17.7%.

Friday produced some more bad news from the financials. Early gains were wiped out after data showed rising foreclosures, and S&P said it might cut certain of the ratings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The pair fell 3.9% and 6.1%, respectively. The financial sector as a whole lost 0.6%. Although somewhat obscured by the travails of the financials, earnings season kicked into high gear this week. After 226 company reports, earnings for the S&P 500 are down 24.6% on average. Excluding financials, though, earnings grew by 9.3%.

European stocks fell for the third day last week on concern losses in financial services may worsen and slowing economies will stifle profit growth. Munich Re slumped the most in five years after the world's second-biggest reinsurer warned of ``substantial'' writedowns on its stock investments. Hannover Re fell the most since January. UBS AG slipped after New York sued the bank on allegations its promotion of auction-rate securities was fraudulent. PagesJaunes SA led media companies lower after cutting its sales forecast because of ``a more difficult economic environment.'' UBS tumbled 6.1%. The European bank hardest hit by subprime contagion was sued yesterday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, alleging the bank's promotion of auction-rate securities as safe, money market-like investments was fraudulent.

The Nikkei gained 4.2% in this holiday-shortened week, the biggest weekly advance since Feb. 15, while the Topix rose 3.7%. Japan's consumer prices climbed at the fastest pace since 1998 in June as higher food and gasoline costs squeezed household budgets, the statistics bureau said. Kokuyo Co. surged 7.6%, the biggest advance since May 13. The Japanese maker of office supplies beat its profit forecast by 67% after passing on higher materials expenses and cutting costs.

The dollar showed the second weekly advance against the euro as traders added to bets the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates from 2% this year. Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said on July 23 rates should rise ``sooner rather than later'' to quell inflation. Hank Paulson, US Treasury Secretary, reiterated on Tuesday that a strong dollar was “very” important to US interests. He reassured investors that the US government was going ahead with plans to resolve the mortgage crisis. The comments helped to support financial stocks and lift the dollar. However, a wobble in US bank shares later in the week took some of the shine off the greenback’s advance.