Commodities staged a broad retreat on Monday, with oil dipping below $70 a barrel, as a stronger dollar and cautious comments from Chinese premier Wen Jiabao over the durability of his country’s economic recovery weighed on prices.

Mr Wen’s suggestion that the drop off in foreign demand for Chinese goods could hamper the country’s economic growth knocked the faith of investors convinced that a sharp upturn in Chinese demand would reinvigorate the commodities markets.