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Commodities fluctuated as investors waited for the release of the US July jobs report today.
As reported by The Globe and Mail, the number of non-farm jobs in July rose by 162,000, pushing the jobless rate in to 7.4 percent, its lowest in four years. However as The Globe pointed out, that was below expectations of 184,000 jobs; also, the labor force shrank during the month, which dampened the good news somewhat.
The US dollar initially gained on expectations of the upbeat data, causing gold to suffer. Spot gold lost $24.37 to reach $1,282.69 an ounce in early trading, a two-week low. Following the release of the report, however, it rebounded to $1,311.94, a gain of $5.25.
The precious metal has been dropping all week and was on track for its worst in a month prior to the jobs data release. Anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s policy statement caused traders to remain cautious at the beginning of the week. Steady US jobs and factory data also contributed to gold’s losses.
Silver was similarly affected by the jobs report. According to Reuters, it initially decreased $0.194 to $19.40 an ounce, but bounced back $0.34 to $19.92 an ounce later in the session. Like gold, it has also been sinking all week.
In contrast, optimism about the global economy helped copper maintain a steady increase throughout the day. In London, three-month copper hit $7,050 a tonne, its highest since July 24. The metal also traded up today at $7,030 a tonne, compared to last session’s final bid of $6,998 a tonne.
This is a rebound for the metal, since it has suffered all week on negative economic outlooks for its biggest consumer, China.
Brent crude was boosted by positive job expectations early in the session, but soon fell due to the poor results. Futures dropped $0.76 to $108.78 per barrel after an earlier high of $110.09 today, Reuters reported. Still, positive gains earlier in the week are keeping it on track for a week-over-week increase.
