Weekly Market Recap – September 10, 2021
The current Fed “Beige Book” report focuses on the economic pullback in July and August, attributing it to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, persistent supply chain problems, and companies struggling to fill positions. According to the Fed’s comments, the most impacted expenditures have been for eating out, travel and tourism. The Beige Book findings will be used at the next Fed policy-making meeting (Sep. 21-22), to determine the central bank’s decisions regarding interest rates and its monthly bond purchasing program.
The week was light on economic statistics. Monthly figures, compared with previous levels, were as follows: consumer credit $17 billion vs. $38 billion, producer price index 0.7% vs. 1.0%, and wholesale inventories were revised to 0.6% (unchanged). Weekly initial jobless claims were 310,000 vs. last week’s 340,000.
Stocks were weaker across the indices we track. The DJIA fell 2.2%, ending at 34,607.72 on Friday. The S&P 500 went out at 4,458.58 (-1.7%), and the NASDAQ Composite closed at 15,115.49 (-1.6%). Volatility surged back into the market, as evidenced by CBOE VIX, which jumped 27.7% to a 20.95 finish. The U.S Dollar Index regained what it had lost the prior week, to end at 92.64 (+0.6%), and the S&P GSCI closed at 531.42 (-0.1%).
Precious metal prices decreased, while industrial metals increased. The end-of-week futures settlements and their respective percentage movements were as follows: gold at $1,792.10 (-2.3%), silver at $23.900 (-3.6%), platinum at $956.50 (-6.4%), palladium at $2,126.30 (-12.0%), copper at $4.4520 (+2.7%), and aluminum at $2,924.00 (+7.2%).
In the energy sector, the spotlight was on natural gas, with a 4.8% weekly rise to $4.938 per mmBtu on Friday. October natgas futures printed above the five-dollar mark a few times during the week, but Thursday’s close was $5.031, a price level not seen for the nearby contract since February 2014. The petroleum sector’s closing prices showed minimal changes for the week: WTI crude at $69.72 (+0.6%), Brent crude at $72.92 (+0.4%), heating oil at $2.1460 (-0.6%), and RBOB gasoline at $2.1540 (0.0%).
Regarding the nine agricultural futures we track in our recap, all of the products in this category moved lower. The closing prices and corresponding percentage decreases from the previous Friday were: soybeans at $12.86½ (-0.4%), corn at $5.17½ (-1.2%), wheat at $6.88½ (-5.2%), coffee at $1.8805 (-2.6%), sugar at 18.79¢ (-4.2%), cocoa at $2,603 (-1.9%), cotton at 93.50¢ (-0.6%), live cattle at 123.425 (-1.1%), and lean hogs at 82.450 (-8.0%).
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 | December |
ICE | Coffee | December |
ICE | Cocoa | December |
ICE | Sugar | October |
ICE | Cotton | December |
ICE | Brent Crude | November |
NYMEX | WTI Crude | October |
NYMEX | ULSD (Heating Oil) | October |
NYMEX | RBOB (Gasoline) | October |
NYMEX | Natural Gas | October |
NYMEX | Platinum | October |
NYMEX | Palladium | December |
COMEX | Gold | December |
COMEX | Silver | December |
COMEX | Copper | December |
LME | Aluminum | 3 Mo. Forward |
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