Oil prices rose on Thursday, for the second day in a row, rising near multi-year highs, thanks to record natural gas prices, but today's gains are curbed by a build in US crude inventories.

US crude rose 1.1% to $81.39 a barrel, after opening at $80.53, and hit a low at $80.43, and Brent crude rose 0.9% to $84.22 a barrel, after opening at $83.46, and hit a low at $83.20.

The US crude gained less than 0.1% yesterday, resuming gains after taking a pause due to profit-taking from a 7-year high of $82.15, and Brent crude rose 0.2%, near its 3-year high of $84.58 a barrel.

Oil prices are rising due to growing fears over a market deficit, especially after OPEC Plus alliance's recent decision to keep its current production policy without any new production hikes.

Meanwhile, global demand for oil is growing, especially due to the global shifting from gas to oil, after the recent record spike in natural gas prices.

The American Petroleum Institute reported in preliminary data that the US crude inventories rose 5.2 million barrels to 429 million barrels during the week ending October 8, which is the highest level since the week ending September 3, while analysts forecast a rise by 0.7 million barrels.

The US Energy Information Administration's official data will be released later today, amid forecasts for inventories to drop by 1.1 million barrels.

Gold prices rose on Thursday, extending gains for the third straight day, and hit a 4-week high while near breaking the $1800 barrier, following a drop in the US T-bond yields after the US Fed meeting minutes.

Gold prices rose 0.3% to the highest since last September 15 at $1,797.49 an ounce, after opening at $1,792.66, and hit a high of $1,786.58.

Gold closed higher by 1.9% yesterday, the largest daily gain since March 9, thanks to strong demand.

The 10-year US Treasury yield fell 0.5% today, deepening losses for the third straight day, and pulled back further from a 4-month high of 1.636%, which lifts demand for gold.

The Federal Reserve's meeting minutes showed that the US central bank would start cutting its bond-buying program by mid-November, but monetary policy makers remained divided over the high inflation and the extent of the need for an interest rate hike.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF fell 2.33 metric tonnes yesterday, with the total at the lowest level since April 3, 2020 of 982.72 metric tonnes.

Most of the US stock indices closed higher on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve meeting minutes and the release of upbeat economic data.

The Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed that the central bank's members discussed a plan to reduce asset purchases by $15 billion per month.

The Fed members expected the central bank to start cutting the pandemic bond-buying program starting Mid-November.

Data showed today that the US consumer price index rose 0.4% during September, beating forecasts of 0.3%.

The core consumer price index reading (excluding energy and food prices) rose 0.2% last month as expected.

Major US banks kicked off the Q3 earnings reports season, which has a huge impact on the banking sector.

To the oil market, WTI crude November futures fell 0.3% or 20 cents, and closed at $80.44 a barrel.

Brent December futures fell 0.3% or 24 cents, and closed at $83.18 a barrel.

As for stocks, Dow Jones held at 34,377, with a day high of 34,449, and a low of 34,315.

S&P 500 rose 0.3% or 13 points to 4,363, after hitting a high of 4,372 and a low of 4,329 points.

Nasdaq rose 0.7% or 105 points to 14,571, with a high of 14,589 and a low of 14,471.

Silver prices rose on Wednesday, as the US dollar fell against most of its peers, after the release of the Federal Reserve meeting minutes.

The Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed that the central bank's members discussed a plan to reduce asset purchases by $15 billion per month.

The Fed members expected the central bank to start cutting the pandemic bond-buying program starting Mid-November.

Data showed today that the US consumer price index rose 0.4% during September, beating forecasts of 0.3%.

The dollar index fell against a basket of major currencies by 0.5% to 94.07 points as of 20:08 GMT, after hitting a high of 94.5 points and a low of 94.05 points.

Silver spot prices rose by 2.5% to $23.08 an ounce as of 20:09 GMT.