Weekly Market Recap – April 5th, 2019
In the Markets
Strong economic news out of the U.S. and China provided a lift to equity markets. The China March Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) signified modestly faster growth as it expanded following 6 straight months of mild contraction. Additionally, the U.S. employment report for March showed a hiring rebound following soft data in February. 196,000 jobs were added in March, bringing the 2019 average to 180,000 net jobs per month. While this is below the 2018 average of 235,000, the unemployment rate has remained at 3.8%.
The major indices responded positively to the news, with the Dow Jones climbing 1.9%, the S&P 500 up 2.1%, and the NASDAQ rose 2.7%. Decisions on U.S. China trade negotiations and Brexit still loom over the markets. Reports indicate progress between U.S. and Chinese officials, although IP transfers and tariffs remain unresolved. On the Brexit front, the UK Parliament rejected the latest Brexit proposal, leading to Prime Minister May’s request for an extension of UK membership in the EU from April 12th to June 30th.
Crude oil posted gains on the week on lower output from Saudi Arabia, with Brent futures climbing 2.85%, and WTI gaining 4.89%. Crude products followed suit, with gasoline up 3.86%, and heating oil rising 3.5%. Natural Gas began the week climbing 1.72% on Monday, but fell back down over the rest of the week, finishing almost flat, up 0.08%.
Platinum outperformed the rest of its sector on the week. While gold and silver were down 0.2% and 0.16% respectively, platinum futures gained 6.12% on the week, breaking $900 per ounce. Copper fell on the week, down 1.47%.
Agricultural commodities posted gains, with soybeans gaining 1.67%, corn rising 1.68%, and wheat rising 1.79%. Lean hogs rebounded from its small loss the week prior, up 2.13%.
World Cup Trading Championships
Eduardo Ramos maintain his lead, approaching the 200% mark, closing the week with a net return of 198.2%. Second place was held by Andrei Balanescu for the second week in a row, as he finished with a net return of 102.2%. Holly Springs Pharmacy returned to the top 5, posting a net return of 90.7%, giving them third place. Lukas Schreiber climbed into 4th place with a 79.6% net return, while Fabian Fischer held onto a spot in the top 5 with a net return of 60.3%.
Trading futures and forex involves significant risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. World Cup Championship (WCC ) accounts do not necessarily represent all the trading accounts controlled by a given competitor. WCC competitors may control accounts that produce results substantially different than the results achieved in their WCC accounts. WCC entrants may trade more than one account in the competition.