Protests in Egypt cause a rush into gold and oil

• The price of oil has seen the largest spike since 2009 • The price of gold the biggest rise in the last 12 weeks

The prices of several commodities began to rise at the end of last week, following the protests of Egypt against president Hosni Mubarak, who has been leading the country for 30 years.

Oil and precious metals were the biggest risers. The price of crude oil saw the largest advance since September 2009, as investors were concerned that the riots in Egypt could spread to the oil-producing countries of the Middle East.

The price of oil with a March delivery rose 3.70 (4.3%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange, to 89.34 dollars barrel. The price of oil rose 0.3% on the American market last week, and 21% last year. A record volume of oil contracts was traded Friday in New York, during the electronic session: 1.39 million. The previous record was set on April 13th, 2010 - 1.35 million contracts.

On the ICE Futures Europe of Londra, the price of Brent oil with March delivery rose 2.03 dollars (2.1%) Friday, to 99.42 dollars/barrel. This was the highest closing price since September 26th, 2008. The large difference between the prices in Europe and those in the US comes from the rise of the oil inventories in the US.

Analysts say that the protests in Egypt or in Tunisia will not have an effect on the oil market, but if such riots occurred in Saudi Arabia, then "the situation would change completely". (ed. note: Saudi Arabia is the world"s largest oil exporter).

On the market for precious metals, gold saw the biggest rise of the last 12 weeks, as the escalating tensions in Egypt generated increased interest in safe placements.

The price of gold with April delivery rose 21.90 dollars (1.7%), to 1,341.70 dollars an ounce on Comex New York, the largest rise since November 2010. The price of gold reached a maximum high on December 7th, 2010: 1,432.50 dollars/ounce.

The price of silver with March delivery climbed 88.8 cents (3.3%) Friday, to 27.919 dollars/ounce, the highest gain since December 28th.

Coffee reaches a 13-year high

Friday, the price of Arabica coffee reached the highest level in 13 years, amid signals that output in Brazil and Columbia (the world"s largest coffee producers) would decline, which caused fear that demand would exceed supply.

The price of Arabica with march delivery rose 8.05 cents (3.4%), closing the day at 2.45 pound on ICE Futures of New York (a pound = approximately 500 grams). Previously, the price had risen to 2.4635 dollars pound - the highest since June 1997.

The price of Arabica rose 1.9% last week, and 84% last year.