Most commodity prices rose this week as traders welcomed broadly upbeat economic data that increased investor appetite for risk.
However, some markets ran out of steam heading into the weekend following much-weaker-than expected US payroll figures on Friday.
The US economy created a paltry 18,000 jobs last month, well short of modest forecasts for 80,000, pushing the unemployment rate up to 9.2 percent and signaling that US growth stayed very weak during the second quarter.
The data was a letdown for investors who had hoped that the world’s biggest economy was getting back on track — and sparked caution.
“The report was a timely reminder that the world’s biggest economy is still fragile and that its health seems inconsistent with the current level of the prices of many risky assets,” Capital Economics analyst Julian Jessop said.
Some markets were also spooked by Tuesday’s sharp Moody’s ratings downgrade to Portugal which seemed to affirm the view that the eurozone debt crisis was worsening.
OIL: Prices zoomed higher on Thursday, and largely held onto those gains, with London Brent crude gaining almost US$5 per barrel, as traders reacted to a series of positive economic data releases from around the world.
Payrolls firm ADP said that US private businesses added 157,000 jobs last month, while German -industrial production jumped in May, gaining 1.2 percent following a decline of 0.8 percent in April.
“Oil prices rose on increased optimism over the world economy,” Westhouse Securities analyst Peter Bassett said.
However, the gains were tempered by Friday’s weak US non-farm payrolls report.
Meanwhile, US crude inventories fell 900,000 barrels in the week ending July 1, according to figures on Thursday. That was well short of market forecasts for a 2.4 million barrel drop.
Gasoline reserves fell 600,000 barrels. That confounded expectations for a gain of 200,000 barrels and indicated stronger demand as prices fell and summer vacations began.
By late Friday on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August was higher at US$117.60 a barrel from US$110.42 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or light sweet crude for August climbed to US$96.27 a barrel from US$94.29.
PRECIOUS METALS: Safe-haven gold sparkled as Moody’s ratings agency delivered a shock downgrade to Portugal.
By late Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold rebounded to US$1,541.50 an ounce from US$1,483 the previous week.
Silver rose to US$36.28 an ounce from US$33.85.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum advanced to US$1,740 an ounce from US$1,708.
Palladium increased to US$776 an ounce from US$750.
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