LONDON (SHARECAST) - Crude oil futures settled higher on Friday, after a volatile session, but nursed losses of over 9% for the week as investors worried about the health of the global economy.
A better than expected US jobs report gave oil prices an early boost. Crude for September delivery traded at a high of $88.32 a barrel before settling at $86.88 a barrel, up 25 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude settled up $2.12 to $109.37 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.
The widely watched report from the US Labor Department showed the economy added 117,000 jobs in July while the unemployment rate fell a touch.
However the stronger than anticipated jobs report failed to remove increasing fears about anaemic US growth and weakening demand for oil. Oil prices skidded to an intra-day low of $82.87 a barrel on Friday after falling a massive 5.8% on Thursday on fears about euro zone debt and the US economic recovery.
Gold lost some of its recent momentum on Friday in a day marked by swings from positive to negative territory as traders mulled the better than expected US jobs report and as concern about a US recession increases.
Gold for December delivery dropped $7.20 to $1,651.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Silver for September lost $1.22 to $38.21 an ounce while September copper eased 12 cents to $4.12 a pound.
