US non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 54,000 in May, well down on the 232,000 increase in jobs in April and short of economist predictions for an increase in jobs of 150,000. The unemployment rate rose from 9.0pct to 9.1pct. But the ISM services gauge rose from 52.8 to 54.6 in May.

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European shares rebounded in late trade to finish mixed on Friday after Greece said it successfully concluded talks with inspection teams from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 0.5pct but the German Dax was up by 0.5pct, the French CAC40 was up less than a point and the UK FTSE gained 0.1pct.

US sharemarkets fell again on Friday in response to weaker-than-expected employment data. The Dow Jones fell by 97pts or 0.8pct with the S&P 500 down by 1.0pct and the Nasdaq lost over 40pts or 1.5pct. Over the week stocks fell for the fifth straight week with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all down by 2.3pct.

US treasuries rose on Friday (yields lower) as investors debated whether the Federal Reserve needs to deliver a third tranche of quantitative easing following more soft economic data. US 2yr yields fell by 4pts to 0.429pct and US 10yr yields fell by 4pts to 2.99pct. Over the week US 2yr yields fell by 6pts and US 10yr yields fell by 7pts.

The US dollar fell against major currencies in European and US trade on Friday in response to weak jobs data. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.4455 to US$1.4640, before ending US trade near US$1.4615. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US106.00c to US107.75c before ending US trade near US107.20c. And the Japanese yen lifted from 80.70 yen per US dollar to JPY80.10, ending US trade near JPY80.20.

Crude oil prices were mixed on Friday as investors weighed good news from Greece, a stronger greenback and weak economic news from the US. In the coming week OPEC oil ministers meet and are expect to argue for an increase in production quotas. The Nymex crude oil contract fell by US18c or 0.2pct to US$100.22 a barrel but London Brent crude rose by US30c to US$115.84 a barrel. Over the week Nymex fell by 0.4pct but Brent rose by 0.7pct.

Base metal prices generally rose 0.9-2.0pct on the London Metal Exchange on Friday in response to a weaker greenback but tin slipped 0.7pct. Over the week metal prices were generally lower. Tin lost 4pct and lead fell 3.5pct but other metals lost around 1pct and aluminium rose 0.1pct. And the gold price also rose in line with a weaker US dollar on Friday with Comex gold futures up by US$9.70 an ounce to US$1,542.40. Gold rose 0.4pct last week.

Ahead: In Australia, job advertisement figures are released together with the TD Securities inflation gauge. In the US, the Employment index is released. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke is expected to deliver a speech on Tuesday.

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