Weekly Market Recap – September 23, 2022

Concerns about a global recession were sparked by the move by central banks around the world to raise interest rates and intervene in foreign exchange markets, putting pressure on stock investors to sell heavily. President Vladimir Putin accelerated his efforts in Ukraine, calling up 300,000 more Russian citizens for active military duty. After a slow start to this year’s hurricane season, tropical storm activity has finally started to kick into gear. Hurricane Fiona pummeled Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic before bashing Bermuda as one of the strongest storms ever to hit that island. As we go to press, the next system, Ian, is bearing down on the western end of Cuba and then the Gulf side of the Florida peninsula.

Monthly economic statistics released during the week, compared with the prior month, were as follows: building permits 1.52 million vs. 1.69 million, housing starts 1.58 million vs. 1.40 million, existing home sales 4.80 million vs. 4.82 million, and leading economic indicators -0.3% vs. -0.5%. Weekly statistics for initial jobless claims were 213,000 vs. 208,000, and continuing unemployment claims were 1.38 million vs. 1.40 million. In quarterly stats, the current account deficit (as a percent of GDP) was -4.0% in Q2 vs. Q1’s -4.6%.

Stocks reeled and tumbled further on recession concerns, compounded by central bank rate hikes. For the three indices we track, Friday’s final levels and weekly net percentage changes were: DJIA at 29,590.41 (-4.0%), S&P 500 at 3,693.23 (-4.6%), and the NASDAQ Composite at 10,867.93 (-5.1%). Volatility soared in equities, reflected in the CBOE VIX jumping to 29.92 (+13.8%). In currencies, USD Index futures went out at 112.962 (+3.2%). The commodities sector dropped 4.0% according to the S&P GSCI’s 606.32 close.

All six metals futures on our radar declined. Settlement prices and weekly percentage decreases were: gold at $1,655.60 (-1.7%), silver at $18.910 (-2.4%), platinum at $858.70 (-4.7%), palladium at $2,070.50 (-2.0%), copper at $3.3430 (-4.9%) and aluminum at $2,165.00 (-4.9%).

Most of the energy futures we report here also dropped, with Friday’s session closing the week with a broad selloff in all the contracts except heating oil, which settled 2.0% higher at $3.2371 per gallon. For the balance of the sector, closing prices and their respective percentage losses were as follows: WTI crude at $78.74 per barrel (-7.1%), Brent crude at $86.15 (-5.7%), RBOB gasoline at $2.3830 (-1.4%), NYMEX natural gas at $6.828 per MMBtu (-12.1%), and ICE TTF Dutch gas at €185.495 per MWh (-1.2%).

For the nine agricultural markets we follow in our recap, the score was six lower and three higher. The contracts that ended the week in the red were: soybeans at $14.25¾ (-1.6%), corn at $6.76¾ (-0.1%), cocoa at $2,247 (-4.8%), cotton at 92.54¢ (-6.8%), live cattle at 148.550 (-1.6%) and lean hogs at 82.800 (-5.9%). The gainers were: wheat at $8.80½ (+2.4%), coffee at $2.2045 (+2.5%) and sugar at 18.28¢ (+2.2%).

Futures Referenced in Market Recap

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