【Market Morning】 Non-farm Payroll data is worse than expected. Three major stock indexes all closed up. Crude oil soared and gold prices rebounded

Gold price fell first and then rose

Last Friday (June 4) during the Asian trading session, the price of gold continued to decline, reaching the lowest level of $1,856 in more than two weeks. However, the disappointing labor market data in the United States triggered a rebound before the weekend, and the price of gold closed at around $1890, ending a four-week rally.

On Friday, spot gold closed at US$1891.03 per ounce, a sharp rise of US$20.67 or 1.11%. It once hit the lowest level since May 19 at US$1855.06 per ounce, but then rose strongly and refreshed its daily high to US$1,896.13 per ounce. This week, spot gold fell by US$12.62, or 0.66%.

COMEX August gold futures closed down 1.9%, at 1873.30 US dollars per ounce, a record low in the last two weeks.

Oil prices continue to rise

Crude oil prices continued to rise, and Brent crude oil exceeded US$72/barrel for the first time since 2019. The reason is that OPEC+ supply constraints and demand recovery have offset concerns about uncoordinated COVID-19 vaccination worldwide.

OPEC+ said on Tuesday that they will stick to the agreed supply limits. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a weekly supply report on Thursday, showing that U.S. crude oil inventories fell more than expected last week.

On Friday, Brent crude oil prices rose 0.8% to close at $71.89 per barrel. On the same day, Burundi Oil once hit a high of US$72.17, the highest level since May 2019. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose 1.18% to close at US$69.62/barrel. Earlier, it hit US$69.76/barrel, the highest level since October 2018.

Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM said: "After a long delay, Brent crude seems to have found a new position above $70. The summer and the reopening of the global economy are positive for oil demand in the second half of this year. "

U.S. dollar gave up gains

The non-agricultural employment report showed that the United States added 559,000 jobs in May, which was less than expected. The unemployment rate fell from 6.1% to 5.8%, better than the expected 5.9%. The dollar gave up most of Thursday's gains.

This week the focus will be on the European Union. The EU will announce the final value of gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter, which is expected to be confirmed as a 0.6% quarter-on-quarter decline. The European Central Bank will hold a monetary policy meeting next Thursday, but no heated debate is expected this time. The European Central Bank may maintain its current monetary policy unchanged and remain cautious about the risks associated with the epidemic.

Three major U.S. stock indexes closed up

The non-agricultural employment data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday (June 4) was worse than expected. This relieved the market's concerns about inflation caused by the overheating of the economy and the Fed's early tightening of policy, pushing the three major stock indexes to rise.

The Dow closed up 180.40 points, or 0.52%, to 34,757.44 points; the S&P 500 closed up 36.55 points, or 0.87%, to 4,229.40 points, less than 0.2% lower than the historical high set last month; the Nasdaq closed up 199.98 points, an increase of 1.47%, to 13814.49 points.

The major stock indexes rose slightly this week. The Dow and the S&P 500 index rose 0.7% and 0.6% respectively this week, marking the second consecutive week of gains. The Nasdaq, which is dominated by technology stocks, rose nearly 0.5% this week, marking the third consecutive week of gains for the index.