Metals, energy, grains fall on weak jobs report; sugar, gold, natural gas all improve

Metals, energy prices fall on weak jobs report

Commodities prices fell across the board Friday as a weak government jobs report stoked concerns that the U.S. economic recovery may be far more sluggish than anticipated.

Other factors pressuring commodities were a stronger dollar and news that another European country was facing financial trouble. Nearly all major commodities fell except for gold, sugar and natural gas.

“The jobs report was very, very poor and it’s just bring everything down with it,” MF Global senior commodities analyst Edward Meir said.

The government said 431,000 jobs were created last month, but most were temporary census workers. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had predicted 513,000 jobs would be created.

The slower-than-expected hiring affected a broad range of industries, from factories to construction and health-care firms.

The report dashed investors’ hopes for a healthy jobs report to ease nagging fears that the global economic recovery may be slowing because of Europe’s debt crisis.

In another setback, Hungary’s new government said the country’s economy was in worse shape than anticipated.

Those developments pushed the dollar higher. The ICE Futures US dollar index, which measures the dollar against six other currencies, rose 1 percent.

Commodities are priced in dollars, so a stronger dollar makes them less attractive to foreign investors.

Industrial metals, which are used in manufacturing everything from construction pipes to consumer products, all fell, some sharply.

Copper for July delivery copper fell 12.7 cents, or 4.3 percent, to settle at $2.8195 a pound; and June palladium lost $19.80 to $429.80 an ounce.

In other July contracts, silver fell 63.2 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $17.299 an ounce and platinum lost $17.60 to settle at $1,5252.30 an ounce.

Gold for August delivery rose $7.70 at $1,217.70 an ounce.

Most energy prices retreated. Benchmark crude for July delivery fell $3.10 to settle at $71.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading in July contracts, heating oil fell 8.14 cents to settle at $1.9577 a gallon; gasoline fell 8.59 cents to settle at $1.9953 a gallon.

July natural gas gained 10.7 cents to settle at $4.797 per 1,000 cubic feet.

July wheat lost 6 cents to settle at $4.3575 a bushel, while soybeans fell 20 cents to $9.35 a bushel. Corn fell 9.5 cents to $3.40 a bushel.

Meanwhile, slightly tighter supplies sent sugar prices higher, said Spencer Patton, founder and chief investment officer of Steel Vine Investments LLC, a hedge fund that trades in commodities. Sugar for July delivery rose 0.53 cent to settle at 14.52 cents a pound.