Investing.com - A whipsawing Middle East conflict takes center stage once again as the new trading week gets underway. A key U.S. jobs report will be in focus later in the week, along with data tracking activity in the American manufacturing and services sectors. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark which has oscillated sharply on developments in the Middle East, dropped on Monday, but were well above pre-war levels. U.S. July jobs reportHeadlining the economic calendar this week will be the July U.S. jobs report, a figure which could sway the trajectory of Federal Reserve interest rate policy. For months, incoming data has indicated that while employers are not hiring workers at an elevated clip, layoffs remain muted.