Sector Wrap: Gold, Oil
Wednesday, March 31, 4:48 PM ET

Despite the optimism in the markets, the monthly jobs report from the ADP dampened the mood a bit. This morning's report said employers eliminated 23,000 jobs in March, much worse than the 40,000 job gain economists had been expecting. This has investors wondering about the direction of the labor market and they will look to the Labor Department report due out on Friday. While the dollar slumped following the ADP report, gold prices caught a bid, climbing to $1,115 per ounce today. Gold has remained relatively flat so far this year, but further weakness from the global economy could translate into higher prices going forward.

Investors looking to take advantage of the moves in gold need to look no further than the SPDR Gold Trust (AMEX:GLD) which is trading higher by 0.5% this week follwing today's 1% gain.

And other commodities catching a bid this week include natural gas. Goldman Sachs upgraded the E&P Sector this week on the belief that natural gas prices could rise above $6 by the end of 2010. In their report, Goldman identified Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN) and Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) as companies who are poised to move with the price of natural gas.

While the US Natural Gas Fund (AMEX:UNG) is off more than thirty percent this quarter, Goldman sees a turnaround later this year. Despite the report, however, shares are off more than 1.5% today.