Commodities prices closed mixed Friday as investors weighed what a robust jobs report may mean for the economy and interest rates. Gold rose, while energy, grains and industrial metals such as copper declined. The Labor Department said employers added 110,000 jobs to their payrolls in September, close to what analysts expected. That growth, combined with a substantial upward revision to the initial August estimate, showed the U.S. job market remains a support for the economy even as the housing slump drags on. The dollar _ whose direction can at times dictate demand for commodities _ initially rebounded after the report indicated U.S. economic strength and lessened the chance for lower interest rates. However, the greenback quickly gave up the gains and traded mixed against other major world currencies; concerns about inflation didn't fade. Gold prices rose, moving opposite the U.S. dollar as investors sought to hedge against inflation. December gold jumped $3.40 to close at $747.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver for December delivery ended little changed, slipping a penny $13.49 an ounce. Gold finished the week down 0.4 percent, and silver ended 3.1 percent lower. Meanwhile, December copper fell 1.85 cent to $3.6965 a pound, paring back gains from earlier in the week. It closed the week up 1.6 percent. «I think the base metals sector was disappointed by the (employment) figures and the hunch that the Fed may hold back on rate cuts in 2007, so we wouldn't see that economic stimulus,» said Mike Zarembski, analyst with optionsXpress Inc. «However, gold is tending to inflation fears.» Overseas, base metals held onto gains made earlier in the day ahead of the release of U.S. employment data. Nickel, tin, zinc and lead rose on the London Metal Exchange. The Federal Reserve cut key interest rates last month, due in part to the apparent weakness of the August jobs report. The cuts were also a reaction to a prolonged downturn in the housing market and a period of extreme volatility in financial markets. But the change in August's data to a gain of 89,000 jobs from a loss of 4,000 appeared to reduce the likelihood the Fed will cut rates again when it meets Oct. 30-31. However, Fed funds futures still indicated the central bank was likely to cut another quarter percentage point before year-end.
