Oil futures increased significantly today, as weak data on the US labor market weighed on the dollar. However, since the beginning of the week oil still shows a significant drop on concerns about market saturation.

The dollar index weakened sharply after the release of the employment report, which makes oil and other commodities denominated in dollars more affordable for holders of the euro and other currencies.

Investors also await the publication of Baker Hughes data on the number of active US drilling rigs. Recall the previous week, their number has remained unchanged, at 406. Prior to this, their number has grown for eight consecutive weeks.

However, the market continues to be uncertain regarding the outcome of the OPEC meeting to be held later this month. The cartel is likely to resume negotiations on freezing oil production from the oil-producing countries, within and outside OPEC, however, many questions remain regarding the success of the event. Earlier this year, an attempt to freeze co-production levels fell after Saudi Arabia's refusal to take part in the initiative because of Iran. Meanwhile, today, Russian President urged major oil-producing countries to agree on limiting production at a meeting in Algeria.

Analysts say that if OPEC will not be able to make a deal in Algeria, the next opportunity to take additional measures to support the market will bepresented at a meeting in Vienna, which is scheduled for November 30th. However, experts are still skeptical about the prospects of the agreements. "Oil prices will remain volatile in the coming weeks", - said Hans van Cleef, senior oil economist at ABN Amro.

The cost of the October futures for US light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) rose to 44.44 dollars per barrel.

October futures price for North Sea petroleum mix of Brent crude rose to 46.80 dollars a barrel on the London Stock Exchange ICE Futures Europe.

Gold rose more than 1% after the release of US labor market data, but then lost some ground on profit taking and renewed strengthening of the dollar.

The Labor Department said that employment growth in the US slowed more than expected in August after two consecutive months of steady gains and moderate wage growth. The number of people employed in the non-agricultural sector of the US economy has grown by 151 000 jobs after a growth of 275,000 in July. At the same time employment in the manufacturing industry and the construction industry declined. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9 percent, as more people entered the labor market. Economists had forecast a rise in the number of employees by 180 000 last month, and a decrease in the unemployment rate to 4.8 percent. Other details of the report showed the pace of growth in labor force participation remained unchanged at 62.8 percent. Lower employment growth came after the economy has created a total of 546,000 jobs in June and July.

The smaller-than-expected wage growth also likely reflects the difficulties of data adjustment for seasonal variations. Over the past few years, in August, the government estimates of the number of jobs have been weak and subsequently revised upwards.

"The presented data on employment put an end to the probability of raising the Fed rate in September, - says Joe Manimbo, Western Union analyst -. Will they be raised later in the year it depends on whether the US GDP growth will accelerate after the weakness in the 1st half of the year" . As it is known, higher interest rates tend to have a downward pressure on gold.

In addition, data showed that the reserves of the world's largest gold exchange-traded fund SPDR Gold Shares were down yesterday by 0.57 percent, to 937.89 tonnes.

The cost of the October futures for gold on COMEX rose to $ 1318.7 per ounce.

This morning in New York WTI crude oil futures increased by 0.19% to $ 43.26 and Brent rose by + 0.15% to $ 45.52 per barrel. Thus, the black gains moderately on the background of cautious trading ahead of NFP, which will help to assess the state of the world's largest economy and the leading oil consumer.

Raising rates could strengthen the dollar, which would have a negative impact on the price of oil, making oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.

In addition, analysts are more skeptical that OPEC and other producers, including Russia, will be able to agree on a production freeze at the meeting in Algiers in September.

(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Oil 43.53 +0.86%

Gold 1,317.20 +0.01%