Weekly Market Recap – July 29, 2022
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) struck a deal with fellow Democrats on a climate and tax package. The Senate passed a bill to provide $52 billion in subsidies to American companies that manufacture chips and related products in a move to counter China’s huge exports of semiconductors to the U.S. After two decades as a partner in the International Space Station, Russia announced it would leave the project in 2024. China’s space station was also in the news. Late in the week, the Chinese Manned Space Agency announced that it had lost control of a 23-ton rocket stage after it carried a laboratory module on its mission; most of the rocket burned up on re-entry to the atmosphere, with the remaining debris crashing into the Indian Ocean on Saturday.
One of the newsworthy economic statistics released during the week was the quarterly gross domestic product. The financial press kept reminding their audience that the term “recession” is keyed on GDP, citing the textbook definition that two consecutive negative quarterly movements indicate a drop in the nation’s economic direction. Thursday’s GDP report for Q2 came in at -0.9% versus the Q1 figure of -1.6%. The monthly stats reported, compared with prior levels were: S&P Case-Shiller national home price index (year-over-year) +19.7% vs. +20.6%, new home sales 590,000 vs. 642,000, pending home sales -8.6% vs. +0.4%, durable goods orders +1.9% vs. +0.8%, PCE inflation index +1.0% vs.+0.6%, real disposable income -0.3% vs. 0.0%, real consumer spending +0.1% vs. -0.3%, and the consumer confidence index 95.7 vs. 98.4. Weekly reports showed that initial jobless claims fell to 256,000 vs. 261,000, while continuing unemployment claims were 1.36 million vs. 1.38 million.
Stocks kept advancing as the three indices we track attained levels not seen since early June. The DJIA ended the week at 32,845.13 (+3.0%), the S&P 500 finished at 4,130.29 (+4.3%), and the NASDAQ Composite closed at 12,390.69 (+4.7%). CBOE’s VIX retreated 7.4%, marking 21.33 at settlement. In currencies, the USD Index futures slipped 0.8%, ending at 105.779 on Friday. Commodities in the S&P GSCI futures portfolio had a strong showing, pushing the index up 4.4% to 692.64 at the week’s end.
Metals futures on our radar all improved. Settlement prices and weekly percentage increases were: gold at $1,762.90 (+2.1%), silver at $20.197 (+8.5%), platinum at $889.80 (+2.6%), palladium at $2,129.70 (+5.5%), copper at $3.5735 (+6.7%) and aluminum at $2,488.50 (+0.5%).
In energy markets, the futures we report here also advanced across the board. Closing prices and their respective movements were as follows: WTI crude at $98.62 per barrel (+4.1%), Brent crude at $110.01 (+6.6%), heating oil at $3.5490 per gallon (+4.6%), RBOB gasoline at $3.1132 (+2.9%), NYMEX natural gas at $8.229 per MMBtu (+0.4%), and ICE TTF Dutch gas at €190.915 per MWh (+18.3%). The meteoric rise in the European gas market was exacerbated by Russia’s export policies.
As for the nine agricultural commodity contracts we cover, it was a strong showing for the bulls, with all but two charging upward. The gainers were soybeans at $14.68½ (+11.6%), corn at $6.20 (+9.9%), wheat at $8.07¾ (+6.4%), coffee at $2.1720 (+5.1%), cocoa at $2,323 (+1.1%), cotton at 96.74¢ (+6.4%) and lean hogs at 97.225 (+0.9%). Those that slid into the red were sugar at 17.54¢ (-2.0%) and live cattle, ending at 142.225 with a slight 0.5% loss for the week.
Futures Referenced in Market Recap
Exchange | Commodity | Contract Month |
---|---|---|
CME | Live Cattle | October |
CME | Lean Hogs | October |
CBT | Soybeans | November |
CBT | Corn | December |
CBT | Wheat | September |
ICE | Coffee | September |
ICE | Cocoa | September |
ICE | Sugar | October |
ICE | Cotton | December |
ICE | Brent Crude | September |
ICE | Dutch TTF Gas | September |
ICE | USD Index | September |
NYMEX | WTI Crude | September |
NYMEX | ULSD (Heating Oil) | September |
NYMEX | RBOB (Gasoline) | September |
NYMEX | Natural Gas | September |
NYMEX | Platinum | October |
NYMEX | Palladium | September |
COMEX | Gold | August |
COMEX | Silver | September |
COMEX | Copper | September |
LME | Aluminum | 3 Mo. Forward |
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