The price of lumber is higher as residents of the Northeast evaluate the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy.
Lumber for January delivery rose $10 Wednesday to end at $331.20 per 1,000 board feet on expectations that demand will pick up because of the need to repair and rebuild houses, businesses and other structures. The process could take months.
Platinum and palladium are posting gains after General Motors said it sold about 70,000 more vehicles worldwide in the third quarter than it did a year ago. The two metals are used in automobile catalytic converters.
In other trading, prices are higher for gold, copper, oil, wholesale gasoline, wheat, corn and soybeans. Heating oil is lower.