The Associated Press

Coffee prices slid again Wednesday as investors worry about large supplies coming from South America.

Coffee for March delivery fell 1.95 cent to settle at $1.421 a pound Wednesday. The contract is down 4 percent so far this week.

Sterling Smith, commodities futures specialist at Citigroup in Chicago, said the coffee market may be close to finding a bottom. If the contract can finish the week above $1.40 a pound, he said, buyers are likely to return.

In other trading, metals and agricultural contracts were mixed.

Gold for April delivery rose $5.30 to $1,678.80 per ounce.

Silver for March delivery edged up 0.2 cent to $31.877 per ounce. March copper slipped 2.95 cents to $3.7405 per pound.

March palladium fell 65 cents to settle at $764.80 per ounce. April platinum gained $29.30 to $1,736.50 per ounce.

In March contracts, wheat rose 4 cents to $7.615 per bushel. Corn slipped 6.5 cents to $7.225 per bushel. Soybeans edged down 8 cents to $14.875 per bushel.

Benchmark crude for March delivery fell 2 cents to end at $96.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped as low as $95.04 in the morning.

-- Wholesale gasoline rose 0.23 cent to end at $3.0397 a gallon.

-- Natural gas added 1.9 cents to finish at $3.418 per 1,000 cubic feet.

-- Heating oil lost half a penny to end at $3.1858 a gallon.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.