Commodities: Precious metals outperform after September US jobs report

The September US non-farm payrolls report left economists divided on its implications for the likelihood of an interest rate hike come the Federal Reserve´s policy meeting on 14 December, in turn weighing on the greenback.

Despite that, December gold futures on Comex ended the session lower by 0.09% to $1,251.90/oz., although other precious metals did register slight gains.

The Bloomberg commodity index edged higher by 0.15% to 85.64 as the US dollar spot index drifted lower by 0.14% to 96.63.

Energy futures were a particularly weak spot in the market, with front month West Texas Intermediate ending the day lower by 1.25% to $49.81 per barrel in NYMEX trading, while November 2016 natural gas skidded 0.66% to close at $3.17/MMBtu.

Agricultural commodities also finished on a down note, with corn and wheat futures contracts both retreating by roughly 0.2% on the Chicago Board of Trade.

ICE-traded Cotton #2 erased 0.77% to close at $66.98 per pound.

Live cattle futures at the CME edged lower by 0.05% to $1.0305 per pound.