CL
Crude oil prices ended little changed on Thursday, as the first weekly gain in the U.S. rig count this year cut earlier gains. Pulling crude futures off highs was the latest data on the U.S. oil rig count from Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI). The firm said the number of rigs drilling for oil rose by 12 this week, the first rise since December.
GOLD
Gold futures continued their extended slide on Thursday, falling to a three-month low, in spite of a weaker dollar pushed down by a relatively soft U.S. jobs report. The Labor Department said on Thursday nonfarm payrolls rose 223,000 last month, after a downwardly revised 254,000 increase in May, with construction and government employment unchanged, and the mining sector purging more jobs. April payrolls were also lowered, meaning 60,000 fewer jobs were created during the two months than previously reported. The unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.3%, the lowest since April 2008, but that was a sign of weakness, as 432,000 people dropped out of the labor force.
