Oil prices slipped in early trade on Friday as U.S. jobs data pointed to higher interest rates for longer and easing tensions in the Middle East dampened supply concerns. The market largely shrugged off sanctions on Venezuela and Iran. Brent futures fell 23 cents, or 0.3%, to $86.88 a barrel. U.S. crude fell 25 cents to $82.48 per barrel, also down 0.3%. The number of Americans filing new jobless claims was unchanged at a low level last week, pointing to continued labor market strength. That reinforced views the Federal Reserve would keep rates higher for longer, which could dampen oil demand. The European Central Bank, meanwhile indicated that an interest rate cut is coming in June, while in China, the world's biggest oil importer, central bank officials said the bank could take further steps to support the economy as real credit demand weakens. In global crude oil supply, Venezuela lost a key U.S. license allowing the OPEC member to export oil to markets globally. The U.S. also announced sanctions on Iran, another OPEC member, targeting after the country's drone strike on Israel last weekend. The latter sanctions, however, excluded Iran's oil industry. Helping to soften crude price decline, Goldman Sachs on Thursday revised its Brent crude oil price forecasts, projecting $86 for the second half of 2024, up from $85 previously and $82 for 2025, up from $80.

Gold prices rose on Friday, on track for their fifth weekly gain, with investors gravitating towards safe-haven assets as political uncertainty in the Middle East overshadowed pressures from the prospect of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates. Spot gold was up 0.4% at $2,388.49 per ounce. U.S. gold futures edged 0.2% higher to $2,403.30 per ounce. Bullion rose 3% so far this week. The U.S. announced new sanctions on Iran, targeting its unmanned aerial vehicle production after its attack on Israel. Federal Reserve policymakers have rallied around the idea of holding borrowing costs where they are until probably far into the year, given slow and lumpy progress on inflation and a still-strong U.S. economy. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits was unchanged at low levels last week, pointing to continued labor market strength. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said that if inflation progress stalls, central bankers would need to consider an interest rate hike. Higher interest rates reduce the appeal of holding non-yielding gold. Silver may have the power to reach the $30-per-ounce milestone after its 26% surge in March-April on the back of gold's record run and copper's strength, even though analysts say the metal is ripe for a technical correction. 

The resurgent dollar headed towards a second straight week of gains on Friday as a hotter-than-expected U.S. economy has pushed back investors' and policymakers' expectations of the trajectory of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. The greenback's 0.17% gain for the week was somewhat capped by a slight stall in its rally since Thursday following a rare trilateral warning from finance chiefs in the United States, Japan and South Korea over the latter two's sliding currencies, raising the risk of a potential joint intervention. That's as Asian currencies, in particular, come under immense pressure from the dollar's strength. The yen was last little changed at 154.61 per dollar , languishing near a 34-year low and not far from the 155 level which traders see as a new line in the sand that would prompt an intervention from Tokyo. The Japanese currency was eyeing a weekly loss of more than 0.8% and was down 2% for the month thus far, ahead of the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) monetary policy meeting next week. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Thursday the central bank may raise interest rates again if the yen's declines significantly push up inflation, highlighting the impact currency moves may have on the timing of the next policy shift. Fed funds futures now show just about 40 basis points (bps)worth of cuts priced in for the U.S. central bank this year – a significant pullback from the 160 bps of easing expected at the start of the year. The shift in rate expectations has come on the back of a slew of resilient U.S. economic data which has repeatedly surpassed expectations, alongside still-sticky inflationary pressures. That's also resulted in Fed policymakers pushing back on bets for U.S. rate cuts beginning as early as June, and Chair Jerome Powell early this week similarly said monetary policy needs to be restrictive for longer.

Prices of nonferrous metals advanced on Thursday, supported by a softer dollar as market participants assessed the U.S. interest rates outlook. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.6% to $9,642 per metric ton, while the most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 1.7% to 77,980 yuan ($10,778.01) a ton. The dollar index was down, inching away from a five-and-a-half-month high hit on Tuesday. Comments by U.S. Federal Reserve officials earlier this week cemented expectation of monetary settings remaining restrictive for a while longer. A softer dollar makes greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies. China's imports of unwrought aluminium and products jumped 89.8% to 380,000 metric tons in March, customs data showed. Meanwhile, Chilean state-run miner Codelco's output is likely to grow slowly this year and reach 1.7 million metric tons by 2030, said the country's president. Last year, output of the country's top copper producer hit a quarter-century low. LME aluminium inventories fell to 513,850 tons on Tuesday, the lowest since December 2023, driven by recent withdrawals in Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea. The falling LME aluminium stocks saw the cash-to-three-month discount at $1.23 a ton on Wednesday, tightening from a discount of $45.94 last Friday.

Malaysian palm oil futures snapped a five-day losing streak on Friday amid a jump in oil prices, even as the contract is set for a second consecutive weekly decline. The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 40 ringgit, or 1%, to 4,024 ringgit ($840.26) a metric ton in morning trade, ending its longest losing streak since early December. The contract, however, is poised for a near 6% weekly decline. Dalian's most-active soyoil contract rose 0.37%, while its palm oil contract was up 0.54%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade climbed 1.14%. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. The Malaysian ringgit , palm's currency of trade, weakened 0.17% against the dollar. A weaker ringgit makes palm oil more attractive for foreign currency holders. Oil prices jumped $3 a barrel on Friday in reaction to reports that Israeli missiles had struck sites in Iran, sparking concerns that Middle East oil supply could be disrupted. Stronger crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.