Weekly Market Recap – November 11, 2022

Russian troops withdrew from Kherson and its surrounding region in Ukraine’s south. It was the first major Ukrainian city occupied after President Putin ordered the invasion nine months ago. On Friday, FTX filed for bankruptcy in the wake of the crypto exchange’s crash that wiped out an estimated $32 billion. As we go to press, the U.S. midterm election results show that Democrats have retained control of the Senate, while the outcome in the House remains too close to call.

For traders and investors in stocks, interest-rate products, and currencies, the markets ignited on Thursday when the four consumer price indices were released. These were: consumer price index (monthly) +0.4% vs. +0.4% (unchanged), CPI (twelve-month) +7.7% vs. +8.2% core CPI (monthly) +0.3% vs. +0.6%, core CPI (twelve-month) +6.3% vs. +6.6%. That improvement brought on a wave of exuberant buying. The other monthly statistics were as follows: wholesale inventories +0.6% vs. +0.9% federal budget (year on year) -$88 billion vs. -$165 billion and NFIB small-business index 91.3 vs. 92.1. As for the weeklies, labor department employment reports showed that initial jobless claims were 225,000 vs. the prior week’s 218,000. Continuous claims were unchanged at 1.49 million.

Stock markets maintained their gains as the indices we monitor here leaped out of the doldrums, advancing sharply. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33,747.86 (+4.1%), its highest Friday close since August 16. The S&P 500 rose 5.9%, settling at 3,992.93, and the NASDAQ Composite went out at 11,323.33 (+8.1%). CBOE’s VIX ended the week at 22.52 (-8.3%). With the positive news on inflation, and its implication of slowing interest rate hikes, FX markets pressured the dollar, which sent USD Index futures down to 106.164 (-4.2%), its lowest Friday close since August 12. The commodity sector eased slightly, as per S&P’s GSCI, as the portfolio of futures slipped to 646.73 (-2.9%).

The metals sector futures scored a sweeping up-move in the contracts we track here. Closing prices and percentage increases were as follows: gold at $1,769.40 per ounce (+5.5%), silver at $21.667 (+4.2%), platinum at $1,038.10 (+8.1%), palladium at $2,026.50 (+10.2%), copper at $3.9135 per pound (+6.2%) and aluminum at $2,463.50 per metric ton (+4.6%).

All of the energy futures on our radar tumbled lower. Here’s how they played out: WTI crude at $88.96 per barrel (-3.9%), Brent crude at $95.99 (-2.6%), heating oil at $3.5553 per gallon (-9.2%), RBOB gasoline at $2.6096 (-4.6%), NYMEX natural gas at $5.879 per MMBtu (-8.1%), and ICE TTF Dutch gas at €97.853 per MWh (-14.8%).

The contracts on our list of nine agricultural products ended the week with a mix of four up and five down. The gainers were: sugar at 19.64¢ per pound (+5.0), cocoa at $2,520 per metric ton (+3.5%), cotton at 88.20¢ (+1.5%), and lean hogs at 84.350 (+1.7%). Those in the red were: soybeans at $14.53¾ per bushel (-1.0%), corn at $6.58 (-3.4%), wheat at $8.13¾ (-4.0%), coffee at $1.7010 per pound (-3.2%) and live cattle at 151.525 (-0.1%).

Futures Referenced in Market Recap

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