Weekly Market Recap – December 10, 2021
As the week came to a close, a series of deadly tornadoes began to strike the U.S. heartland with wind speeds up to 150 mph. The ensuing destruction across six states caused countless deaths and injuries as it leveled entire communities.
Monthly economic statistics, compared with prior months were: balance of trade -$67.1 billion deficit vs. -$81.4 billion, consumer credit $17 billion vs. $28 billion, consumer price index 0.8% vs. 0.9%, year-on-year CPI 6.8% vs. 6.2%, federal budget -$191 billion vs. -$145 billion, wholesale inventories (revision) 2.3% vs. 2.2%, new job openings 11.0 million vs. 10.6 million, and job resignations 4.2 million vs. 4.4 million. Weekly initial jobless claims were 180,000 vs. 227,000.
Stock markets rebounded for the week as investor fears from the Omicron news seems to have dissipated. The weekly gain to 35,970.99 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was a 4.0% increase from the previous Friday. The S&P 500 went out at 4,712.02 (+3.8%), and the NASDAQ Composite ended at 15,630.60 (+3.6%). The CBOE VIX plunged 39.1% to 18.69. In currency markets, the US Dollar index closed at 96.05 (-0.1%). Commodities mostly gained, evidenced by the S&P GSCI rising 3.7% to close at 544.32 on Friday.
Metals were mixed. Futures settlement prices and their respective percentage changes were as follows: gold at $1,784.80 (+0.1%), silver at $22.195 (-1.3%), platinum at $934.20 (+0.9%), palladium at $1,749.80 (-3.5%), copper at $4.2865 (+0.5%) and aluminum at $2,606.50 (-0.6%).
Energy futures in the petroleum sector corrected strongly from their month-long decline. NYMEX WTI surged 8.2%, closing at $71.67, IPE Brent settled at $75.15 (+7.5%), heating oil rose 7.3% to $2.2516 and RBOB gasoline soared 9.4% to $2.1372 per gallon. Natural gas, the only non-petroleum energy contract that we cover, continued its retreat, shaving off 5.0% to close the week at $3.925 per mmBtu, the first time since June that the front month traded below the $4 mark.
Of the nine agricultural contract prices we report, four advanced and five retreated. The gainers were: soybeans at $12.67¾ (+0.04%, corn at $5.90 (+1.0%), sugar at 19.71¢ (+5.1%), and cotton at 106.23¢ (+1.9%). Those in the red were: wheat at $7.85¼ (-2.3%), coffee at $2.3260 (-4.4%), and cocoa at $2,466 (-0.04%), live cattle at 138.075 (-0.6%), and lean hogs at 81.025 (+0.6%).
Futures Referenced in Market Recap
Exchange | Commodity | Contract Month |
---|---|---|
CME | Live Cattle | February |
CME | Lean Hogs | February |
CBT | Soybeans | January |
CBT | Corn | March |
CBT | Wheat | March |
ICE | Coffee | March |
ICE | Cocoa | March |
ICE | Sugar | March |
ICE | Cotton | March |
ICE | Brent Crude | February |
NYMEX | WTI Crude | January |
NYMEX | ULSD (Heating Oil) | January |
NYMEX | RBOB (Gasoline) | January |
NYMEX | Natural Gas | January |
NYMEX | Platinum | January |
NYMEX | Palladium | March |
COMEX | Gold | February |
COMEX | Silver | March |
COMEX | Copper | March |
LME | Aluminum | 3 Mo. Forward |
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