Materials Tick Down After Yellen Speech - Materials Roundup

Shares of commodities producers ticked down as traders hedged their bets on the outlook for economic growth. New home sales fell slightly. The price of copper, a key component of building materials, fell. Gold futures declined after the dollar ticked up against rivals in light of Federal Reserve comments. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said the central bank should be wary of raising rates too slowly. Chemical plants and refineries in Texas spewed exceptionally high amounts of pollutants while shutting down their vast operations for last month's Hurricane Harvey, and again when they restarted, The Wall Street Journal reported. There were also major effects on the supply of chemicals and plastics, according to one brokerage. "Global ethylene/polyethylene markets tightened during the third quarter due to supply disruptions from Hurricane Harvey as well as strong demand and seasonal maintenance in Asia," said analysts at brokerage Nomura Securities, in a research note.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 26, 2017 16:37 ET (20:37 GMT)