Oil prices rose Friday to finish well above $US81 a barrel after the US jobs figures.
The February loss of 36,000 jobs was termed better than expected.
Analysts had been tipping 67,000 losses, although given the winter storms, especially in the east coast; it was had to get a real figure.
The impact of the storms will be sorted out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics number crunchers next month.
The jobs figures sparked a global rise on markets.
So April oil jumped $UIS1.29 a barrel on Nymex in New York, to end at $US81.50 a barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for April finished at $US81.35 a barrel, up $US1.29.
The US Labor Department also reported that the unemployment rate held at 9.7% despite severe winter storms.
Most economists had expected the unemployment rate to rise to 9.85 from 9.7% in January.
Also helping sentiment was the news from China that the growth target this year will be 8% and the government and central bank will be aiming to spend money on "productive investment".
OPEC meets next week and is not thought to be interested in changing production limit, currently at 24.84 million barrels a day.
Comex gold for April delivery rose $US2.10 to $US1,135.20 an ounce on Friday.
The 0.2% rise took the week’s gains to 1.5%.
Palladium rose to its highest in more than two years, boosted by optimism about global auto catalyst demand.
Spot gold closed around $US1132.85 an ounce, against $US1131.45 in New York on Thursday.
Copper rose 1.2%, or 4.2c a pound, on Comex in New York on Friday.
The metal was up 3% at one stage, but traded lower.
Copper had a volatile week, soaring Monday on the news of the earthquake in Chile, before easing in later trading.
Copper jumped from $US3.284 a pound in New York a week ago last Friday and closed higher Friday at $US3.4175 a pound on Friday.
The gain over the week was almost 4%, or around 12.3c a pound over the week.
That boosted the price gain this year back into the positive, up around 2% since the start of January.
