Oil soars, gold falis
In New York, oil futures prices jumped almost 6 percent to seven-week highs as a gasoline pipeline blaze near former dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown added to oilfield looting concerns in Iraq.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, September crude surged US$1.77 to settle at US$32.31 a barrel. In London, IPE September Brent crude gained US$1.62 to settle at US$29.99 a barrel.
In the currency markets, the euro rose to a session high of US$1.1274 after the release of the manufacturing data, before slipping back to US$1.1267, up 0.35 percent from US$1.228 at Thursday's New York close.
After hitting a three-month high of ?120.69, the dollar fell to ?120.09, down 0.35 percent from ?120.51 at the previous US close.
COMEX gold futures plunged on aggressive fund selling.
Benchmark December gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division shed US$8 to US$347.80 an ounce, its lowest close since July 18.
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