Oil at record $126; tin at new record too

By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investment money continued to pour in to energy markets on Friday, taking crude oil to a fifth straight record-high session, while soybean prices surged after a sharp cut in U.S. harvest projections.

In other agricultural markets, rice prices were mixed on lingering supply woes in Asia and projections for a bumper crop next year <GRA/> and soft food commodities like coffee, cocoa and sugar rose on the back of a weak dollar.

In precious metals, platinum hit a near two-month high after the launch of two exchange-traded notes that will aid investment in the metal used largely in exhaust emission systems of cars and in jewelry-making.

Gold prices rose modestly after their recent divergence from the oil rally. Copper fell after a buildup in inventories at exchanged-monitored warehouses in Asia although tin hit record highs to buck the weaker trend in most industrial metals.

Crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange, or NYMEX, ended up $2.27 at $125.96 a barrel, after hitting a record $126.20.

NYMEX crude has gained more than 11 percent from a May 1 low of $110.53 a barrel on a combination of factors dominated by disruptions to crude oil supplies in the North Sea and Nigeria and demand for diesel fuel and heating oil.

But lately, traders and others watching the market have also started to blame speculators for the extraordinary rise.

"Lingering geopolitical fears and high heating oil prices are helping the market, but the speed of the rise is too fast," said Tatsuo Kageyama, analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management in Tokyo.  Continued...