Cocoa, metals in focus on trade war concerns

US disinclination to strike a trade deal with Canada and China will keep commodity market sentiment in check this week, although recent highs in prices of energy to palladium, cocoa, wheat and live cattle could encourage investors to seek gains in specific trades, according to a report on the investing.com.

With just a month left to the third quarter, doubts were growing that Canada would soon become a part of a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), after Friday's deadline for both countries to reach an agreement passed.

Subsequent reports that bilateral talks would resume on Wednesday eased some worries that Ottawa might be excluded completely from the US-Mexico trade deal announced last week.

Be that as it may, a US-China trade deal-which will change dynamics across asset classes-remained elusive at the weekend. What's been lingering was a report that US President Donald Trump planned to move ahead with tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, risking retaliation from Beijing.

On the economic calendar, US job numbers for August will be the main data set for investors to look out for, with a forecast job growth of 191,000 versus July's 157,000.