Weekly Market Recap – July 8, 2022
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, was assassinated while giving a public speech on Friday. On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he would step down after a wave of resignations by cabinet officials and members of Parliament. Elon Musk indicated he would withdraw his offer to buy Twitter. In addition, his net worth has reportedly decreased by $65 billion from the stock market’s decline in recent months.
Monthly economic statistics released during the week, compared with prior levels, were as follows: factory orders +1.6% vs. +0.7%, foreign trade deficit -$84.9 billion vs. -$87.1 billion, consumer credit $22 billion vs. $37 billion, wholesale inventories (revision) +1.8% vs. +2.0%, job openings 11.3 million vs. 11.7 million, job quits 4.3 million (unchanged), nonfarm payrolls 372,000 vs. 384,000 and the unemployment rate was 3.6% (unchanged). Weekly initial jobless claims rose to 235,000 from 231,000 the prior week, and continuing unemployment claims rose to 1.38 million from 1.32 million.
USD Index futures went out at 106.821 (+1.8%), its highest end-of-week close since November 2002. Volatility in the stock market was lower than it has been in over a month, as evidenced by the CBOE VIX, which closed at 24.64, down 7.7% from the previous Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average settled at 31,338.15 (+0.8%), the S&P 500 rose 1.9%, ending at 3,899.38 at the close, and the NASDAQ Composite finished at 11,635.31 (+4.6%). The S&P GSCI portfolio of commodity futures fell to 697.69 (-3.1%).
Metal contracts we track in our recap had a mixed performance for the week. Closing prices and percentage changes were as follows: gold at $1,742.30 (-3.3%) per ounce, silver at $19.236 (-2.2%), platinum at $882.80 (+1.3%), palladium at $2,156.60 (+11.3%), copper at $3.5220 per pound (-2.3%), and aluminum at $2,436.50 per metric ton (-0.3%).
In energy futures, prices in the two category groups diverged as the petroleum sector fell while natural gas rallied. Final values were: WTI crude oil at $104.79 per barrel (-3.4%), North Sea Brent at $107.02 (-4.1%), heating oil at $3.6729 per gallon (-6.8%), RBOB gasoline at $3.4471 (-6.5%). Natgas firmed on both sides of the Atlantic: NYMEX rose 5.3% to $6.034 per MMBtu, and ICE Dutch gas soared to €175.212 per MWh (+18.6%).
Of the nine agricultural contract prices we report, six advanced and three declined. Those in the red were coffee at $2.2045 per pound (-1.9%), cotton at 95.63¢ (-1.9%), and live cattle at 133.950 (-0.5%). The winners topped off the week as follows: soybeans at $13.96½ per bushel (+0.1%), corn at $6.23½ (+2.6%), wheat at $8.91½ (+5.4%), cocoa at $2,318 per metric ton (+0.2%), sugar at 19.02¢ (+5.3%), and lean hogs at 109.175 (+6.0%).
Futures Referenced in Market Recap
Exchange | Commodity | Contract Month |
---|---|---|
CME | Live Cattle | August |
CME | Lean Hogs | August |
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 | August |
ICE | USD Index | September |
NYMEX | WTI Crude | August |
NYMEX | ULSD (Heating Oil) | August |
NYMEX | RBOB (Gasoline) | August |
NYMEX | Natural Gas | August |
NYMEX | Platinum | October |
NYMEX | Palladium | September |
COMEX | Gold | August |
COMEX | Silver | September |
COMEX | Copper | September |
LME | Aluminum | 3 Mo. Forward |
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