LONDON (SHARECAST) - Oil prices moved lower on Friday despite better than expected US jobs figures for August.
Crude for October delivery fell 42 cents to $74.60 a barrel on the New YorkMercantile Exchange.
Crude fell as doubts about the rate of the economic recovery overshadowed gains on Wall Street and a much stronger than expected snapshot on the US jobs market.
Payrolls fell just 54,000 last month compared with expectations that over 100,000 positions had been lost, the Labor Department said. The jobless rate rose to 9.6% from 9.5%.
On Thursday crude oil futures rose above $75 a barrel, supported by solid economic figures and increased risk appetite.
However oil prices ran out of steam by the end of the week, but off session lows. There will be no floor trading on the Nymex Monday because of the US Labor Day holiday.
Gold closed lower on Friday but managed to reduce losses on the day and rose of 1.1% on the week. Gold for December fell $2.30 at $1251.10 an ounce.
