Materials Stocks Up After Strong Jobs Data - Materials Roundup

Shares of commodities producers rose slightly after relatively strong jobs data. Private employers across the country added 178,000 workers to payrolls in July, according to processor Automatic Data Processing and research firm Moody's Analytics. Mining giant Rio Tinto said profit in the first half of the year almost doubled from a year earlier, prompting plans to increase its share buy-back program. Analysts at Swiss bank Julius Baer said hopes that a Chinese copper scrap ban would take care of oversupply on the market for the metal were overdone. Executives at agricultural commodities firm Bunge said they were considering an initial-public offering of its Brazilian sugar operations.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 02, 2017 16:31 ET (20:31 GMT)