Chairman of the state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), Khalid al-Falih, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the country will not cut its oil production.

"The only thing to do now is to let the market do its job. There have been no conversations here that say we should cut production now that we've seen the pain," he said.

The Chinese Customs Office released its trade data on Sunday. China's trade surplus rose to $61.64 billion in October from $60.34 billion in September.

Exports fell at an annual rate of 6.9% in October, while imports slid at an annual rate of 18.8%, the twelfth consecutive decline.

The U.S. Labor Department released the labour market data on Friday. The U.S. economy added 271,000 jobs in October, exceeding expectations for a rise of 180,000 jobs, after a gain of 137,000 jobs in September. It was the largest increase since December 2014.

September's figure was revised down from a rise of 142,000 jobs.

The increase was mainly driven by a rise in the services sector. The services sector added 241,000 jobs in October, while the manufacturing sector added no jobs.

The strong U.S. dollar weighed on the manufacturing sector.

Professional and business services sector added 78,000 jobs in October.

The U.S. unemployment rate declined to 5.0% in October from 5.1% in September. It was the lowest level since April 2008.

Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 5.1%.

Average hourly earnings climbed 0.4% in October, beating forecasts of a 0.2% gain, after a flat reading in September.

The labour-force participation rate remained unchanged at 62.4% in October. It was the lowest level since October 1977.

These figures indicate that the interest rate by the Fed in December is likely if November's labour market data will be strong enough and there will be no surprises.

The oil driller Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of active U.S. rigs declined by 6 rigs to 572 last week. It was the tenth consecutive decrease and the lowest level since June 118, 2010.

Combined oil and gas rigs declined by 4 to 771. It was the lowest level since April 2002.

West Texas Intermediate futures for December delivery rose to $44.79 (+1.13%), while Brent crude advanced to $47.94 (+1.10%), however gains were limited by a stronger dollar, which rose on strong U.S. jobs data released Friday. A stronger greenback makes crude oil more expensive for importers using other currencies.

Bloomberg News reported that according to data from the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs China's crude imports declined to about 6.23 million barrels a day in October. China is the second-biggest consumer of oil in the world and this report put pressure on oil's gains.

Meanwhile Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said low oil prices are favorable for Asian costumers and demand "will soon reflect the attractiveness of the current prices." He expects Asia to account for most of demand growth. However Russia and producers in Africa and South America also raised shipments to the region increasing competition. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said his country intends to more than double oil exports to Asian customers by 2035.

Gold slightly climbed to $1,092.60 (+0.45%) on Monday morning, but remained near a three-month low as strong jobs data from the U.S. intensified expectations for an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in December. Some analysts say that the precious metal is likely to remain under pressure until the Federal Open Market Committee announces its monetary policy decision next month.

The U.S. economy exceeded expectations for 180,000 jobs and generated 271,000 jobs outside the farming sector in October, the biggest monthly gain this year, while the unemployment rate fell to 5% from 5.1%. Hourly wages rose 9 cents or 2.5% y/y at the fastest year-over-year pace since 2009.

Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund in the world, fell 0.40% to 669.09 tonnes on Friday.

(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Oil 44.34 +0.11%

Gold 1,089.50 +0.17%