Commodities: Gold loses lustre after US jobs data, corn, wheat futures find a bid

The strong July jobs data Stateside pushed the dollar index higher, weighing on the commodities patch but not unduly so.

Gold futures were one of the main victims, skidding 1.68% lower to end the day at $1,344.40/oz. on COMEX.

Three-month copper on COMEX was also down, losing 0.92% to $2.1540 per pound.

By the closing bell, Bloomberg´s commodity index was off by 0.06% to 83.85 while the US dollar spot index gained 0.46% to 96.19.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures retreated 0.31% to $41.80 per barrel on the NYMEX, alongside a 2.19% drop in September 2016 natural gas futures, which slid 2.19% to end the day at $2.77 per MMBtu.

RBOB gasoline futures on NYMEX were the exception in the energy patch on Friday, edging higher by 0.61% to $1.3763 per gallon.

December 2016 corn futures advanced 0.98% to $3.3425 per bushel while September 2016 CBoT wheat futures were to be seen 3.16% higher at $4.1600 per bushel.