Weekly Round-Up: Strong US Jobs Data Boosts Commodities-1

Better-than-expected US jobs data helped drive up energy and industrial metal prices across the board as investors’ hopes were raised that steady recovery in the world’s largest economy will drive up global demand. Small Scale Nickel Ore Quarry Equipments However, some uncertainties still loom, not least the still-hazy outlook for the Eurozone and continued anxieties about Chinese growth. The US Department of Labor reported Friday that July’s non-farm payrolls increased by 163,000 compared to just 64,000 in June, suggesting that employers are more eager now to hire new workers. Still, caution remains as the unemployment rate inched up one-tenth of a percentage point to 8.3 percent. Investors were rattled earlier in the week when the US Federal Reserve took no monetary stimulus action following its regularly scheduled two-day policy meeting, even though many analysts had expected the Fed to go through with a third round of quantitative easing to boost economic activity. Small Scale Lead Zinc Ore Quarry Equipments The European Central Bank’s (ECB) inaction following its own meeting also gave concern to investors who were expecting more than a verbal commitment that the ECB plans to get the Eurozone back on track. In early morning trade Friday, Brent crude is up 1.5 percent at $107.51 a barrel, while copper is 1.4 percent stronger at $3.33 a pound. Gold is 0.3 percent higher at $1,595.10 an ounce. However, strong US jobs data has decreased speculation that further monetary stimulus — which would encourage gold investors — will be provided by the Fed. Oil and gas Apache (NYSE:APA) reported that its net income for the second quarter plunged 72 percent from a year ago to $356 million. The company secured an average of $97.66 per barrel for crude oil, down 8.1 percent on year, while its North American gas price dropped 35 percent from a year ago to $3.17 per thousand cubic feet. In contrast, SandRidge Energy (NYSE:SD) reported that its second quarter net income rose 45 percent to $809 million from $196 million during the same period a year ago. Its oil and gas revenue rose 38 percent on year to $429.8 million. The company raised its production projection for the full year to 33 million barrels of oil equivalent, up from its previous forecast of 32.3 million barrels. As for offshore drilling group Transocean (NYSE:RIG), it reported a $304 million loss for the second quarter, compared to a profit of $124 million posted a year ago, largely due to the $750 million that it allocated to pay out settlements for the 2010 Gulf oil spill disaster. Nevertheless, revenue increased by 10 percent on year to $2.58 billion.Small Scale Chalcopyrite Ore Quarry Equipments Meanwhile, Canada’s Wavefront Technology Solutions (OTCQX:WFTSF,TSXV:WEE), which develops fluid injection technology to improve oil recovery, reported that its third quarter net loss increased to $1.53 million from a loss of $927,471 during the same period a year ago due to sales and research costs. Revenue, on the other hand, rose 28 percent to nearly $1.4 million.