From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold Prices recovered to $986.15 per ounce immediately following Friday’s shocking US jobs report this week, but the market was then knocked down for the rest of trade and ended near its low of $969.45 with a loss of 0.28% for the day.

For this incredibly Volatile Week for Gold, the price was barely changed with a 0.06% gain against US Dollars, a 1.2% drop vs. the Euro, and a 1.1% drop vs. the British Pound, which closed Friday one cent off its new three-month high of $2.02.

Silver rose to $20.58 before it dropped to $19.825 by about 09:45 EST, but it then rallied back higher and was able to end with a gain of almost 2% for the week.

The Gold Price in Euros fell to about €634 as the single currency ended the week more than 1% higher, while platinum dumped another $150 to $2020, palladium added to Thursdays 10% losses, and copper gained a couple of cents to about $3.93.

Gold and silver mining equities fell over 3.5% by early afternoon Friday, but they then rallied back slightly in the last couple of hours of trade and ended with only about 3% losses.

Crude oil rose midday Frriday to a new record of $106.54 per barrel, but it fell to find a slight loss by the close on worries that a recession may decrease demand.

The US Dollar index rose from record lows despite the disappointing jobs data as short traders took profits after a week of heavy selling vs. the Euro, Yen, British Pound and Gold.

Treasury bonds rose on the horrible jobs numbers, which raised recession fears and dragged the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P lower for most of the day. Financial worries were also raised as Thornburg Mortgage said it may not have enough liquidity to be an ongoing concern due to margin calls that knocked its stock price 60% lower on Thursday.

Friday data showed US employment falling at the fastest pace in five years, down by 63,000 in Feb. despite a BLS Net Birth/Death adjustment that added 135,000 payrolls.

Also making economic news Friday was a hearing on Capitol Hill over CEO pay that mostly involved the grilling of current and former chief executives who oversaw the credit bubble leading to the subprime financial mess.

The Federal Reserve meantime moved to add up to $200 billion to the banking system in a series of short-term “liquidity” auctions over the next month, hoping to offset the deepending credit crisis.

The Fed also said in a statement in Washington on Friday that it will make $100 billion available through weekly 28-day repurchase agreements, where the central bank will lend cash in return for a broad range of assets – including mortgage-backed bonds.

Next week’s economic highlights include Wholesale US Inventories on Monday, the Trade Balance on Tuesday, the Treasury Budget on Wednesday, Export and Import Prices, Initial Jobless Claims, Retail Sales, and Business Inventories on Thursday, and CPI and Michigan Sentiment on Friday.

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