In the energy market on Monday, crude for August delivery fell sharply, closing at $64.05/barrel, down $2.68 from Thursday. August reformulated gasoline lost 5.04 cents, to $1.7404/gallon. Oil fell off in the first post-holiday session following three straight weekly losses. “The market is pricing in another wave of weak demand and some seasonal factors,” said Phil Flynn, of PFG BEST Research. “Still the dollar seems to be the key today.”

The jobs report “is confirming what we saw earlier in the week with the dropping consumer confidence,” said Phil Flynn, of PFG BEST Research. “This reinforces the outlook for weak petroleum demand and should put downward pressure crude prices.”

Analysts also cited Vice-President Biden’s comments during a Sunday TV interview. The administration “misread how bad the economy was” when the stimulus package was being designed, Biden said.

Looking forward, “The normal summertime lull in trading may put some pressure and profit-taking

In the energy market on Monday, crude for August delivery shot higher, closing at $71.49/barrel, up $2.33. July reformulated gasoline gained 6.2 cents, to $1.936/gallon.

Crude pushed upward after an attack on an oil platform in Nigeria rekindled supply worries, and provided “the big underpinning for oil,” said Kevin Kerr, president of Kerr Trading International.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said that it had struck at the Shell Forcados offshore platform in Delta state. That was a disappointment, after militants said late last week that they are prepared to lay down their weapons while they consider an amnesty offer from the central government.

Kerr added that “if the dollar fails to hold support [at current levels], it’s likely crude will rally further.”

But Edward Meir, of MF Global, wrote that, “Outside of a sharply weaker dollar, we do not see any imminent factors that could see crude-oil prices

Gold declined slowly but steadily from $920 in Hong Kong to $890 at the end Comex trading on Tuesday, and got but a slight lift on the Globex to finish at $897.30/oz., down $24.70. Overnight, gold has edged higher.

Platinum held up until New York opened, dropped off from there to the noon hour, then rallied back late in the day to end at $1041/oz., down $18. Overnight, platinum is trending higher.

Silver recapitulated gold’s chart, falling from above $12.90 in Hong Kong to below $12.50 as the Comex shuttered, then rallying a bit to close at $12.57/oz., down 37 cents. Overnight, silver has moved higher. (Click here for charts)

The precious metals took one to the chin again yesterday, with no sharp moves but just a steady price erosion.

While a dollar that slipped against the euro might have been supportive, retreating crude played against the metals, and an irrationally

In the energy market on Thursday, oil edged higher after slipping below the $40 mark in intraday trading, with crude for March delivery closing at $41.17, up 85 cents. March reformulated gasoline added 5 cents, to $1.27/gallon.

Oil will remain “very volatile as traders roll into the new month and supply concerns are starting to weigh on the short side of the market,” said Kevin Kerr, editor of Global Commodities Alert.

“A reflation environment is upon us and hard assets like oil and gold are starting to look much more interesting,” Kerr added. “I think we will see this market move higher over the next few weeks, but it will do so in fits and starts as cautious traders remain wary.”

However, Edward Meir, of MF Global (NYSE:MF), believes that crude “markets still seem to be trapped within a trading range, as market anticipation about OPEC cuts — both current and

After two lackluster days in a row, gold rocketed higher on Friday, turning sharply north at the London open, leveling off from there to the New York open, then really taking off at mid-morning, peaking above $900 shortly after noon, before easing slightly through the rest of the day and finishing at $899.10/oz., up an impressive $42.70. For the week, gold added a healthy 6.8%.

Platinum was in the red in late Hong Kong trading, but busted higher from there to a peak of $960 in the first half-hour after the Comex, though it eased slightly through the Globex to end at $951/oz., up $29. For the week, platinum was up only 8/10 of a percent.

Silver was in negative territory until mid-morning, when it too caught fire and spiked 80 cents over the next two hours, topping out at $12.07 before settling a bit lower on the Globex to

In the energy market Monday, oil eked out a small gain, with crude for December delivery closing at $62.41/barrel, up $1.37 from Friday. December reformulated gasoline added a penny and three-quarters, to $1.3679/gallon. Early in the day, crude had fallen to $59.10, its lowest level since mid-March, 2007. But every time crude goes “to a new low, a light round of buying emerges to push it up a bit,” said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at DTN.

Phil Flynn, of Alaron Trading, responded to the Chinese news by calling it “a lot of stimulus that the market wasn’t expecting … It’s a two-year project, and it will increase energy demand from China.”

Flynn added that any gains may not be sustainable, though. “China has gone from having to slow their economy to having to boost it,” he said. “The market is still trying to determine the extent of the global economic