Partly Cloudy, and 52 ° F. 
NEW YORK (DTN) — New York Mercantile Exchange oil futures bounced back in pre-market trade immediately after a closely monitored government report came in better-than-expected, prompting a snapback rally across commodities and equities markets. However, the enthusiasm quickly ebbed and oil prices pared gains and were mixed at the start of regular trade, and were slightly lower at last look.
At the 9:00 AM ET opening bell, October NYMEX WTI crude futures were down 7cts at $74.95 bbl. In products trade, October NYMEX No. 2 heating oil futures was down fractionally at $2.0613 gal. October NYMEX RBOB gasoline futures were also down fractionally at $1.9150 gal.
Crude futures are expected to continue trading within a narrow range, though prices could be volatile in part because of low trade volume ahead of the long Labor Day weekend.
The Labor Department’s August nonfarm payroll data showed that private employers hired 67,000 workers in August while a net 54,000 people lost their jobs during the month compared to market expectations that job losses would climb to as high as 110,000.
August unemployment rate matched expectations, rising to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent in July. A weak labor market has been a drag on the economy, and jobs are an important factor in gauging the oil demand outlook .
The knee-jack reaction by oil and equity markets was positive even as analysts continued to comb through the jobs report for illuminating details, including revisions to July data reflecting a net gain of 67,000 jobs.
Today’s jobs report has eased the prospects of a doomsday scenario talked in the market in recent days, said analysts.
