Crude futures fell slightly, halting a massive two-day rally as the Dollar recovered on Friday after a strong U.S. monthly jobs report augmented hawkish arguments for a near-term rate hike from the Federal Reserve. 

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for September delivery traded between $41.06 and $42.09 a barrel before closing at $41.80, down 0.13 or 0.31% on the session. At one point this week, the front month contract for U.S. crude closed below $40 for the first time since mid-April. On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent crude for October delivery wavered between $43.52 and $44.48 a barrel, before settling at $44.27 down 0.02 or 0.05% on the day. 

  The international and U.S. domestic benchmarks for crude are currently down by more than 15% from their June highs.Visit Us www.ripplesadvisoryx.com/freetrial.php or Get Free Trials Just Give One Missed Call @98-27-80-80-90.

 On Friday morning, the U.S. Department of Labor said in its monthly employment report that the economy added 255,000 nonfarm payrolls in July, marking the second consecutive month that the labor market has added more than 200,000 jobs. At the same time, the labor participation rate ticked up by 0.1 to 62.8% while the unemployment rate remained flat at 4.9%. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will receive one additional monthly jobs report to judge the strength of the labor market before it meets again in late-September. 

The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, gained more than 0.40% to an intraday high of 96.50. The index is still down by more than 1% since hitting four-month highs of 97.62 early last week. Dollar-denominated commodities such as Crude become more expensive for foreign purchasers when the dollar appreciates.