Weekly Market Recap – December 2, 2022

Fed Chairman Powell signaled that the central bank is poised to ease borrowing costs, saying, “the time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting.” Congress cleared the way to prevent a nationwide railroad strike. President Biden said he is willing to speak with Vladimir Putin only if the Russian president is “looking for a way to end the war.”

Monthly economic statistics reported during the week were: international trade balance (deficit) -$99.0 billion vs. -$91.9 billion, S&P Case-Shiller national home price index -8.7% vs. -10.4%, pending home sales index -4.6% vs. -8.7%, construction spending -0.3% vs. +0.2%, motor vehicle sales 14.4 million vs. 15.3 million, consumer confidence index 100.2 vs. 102.2,

Chicago PMI 37.2 vs. 45.2, real disposable income +0.4% vs. 0.0%, real consumer spending +0.5% vs. +0.3%, job openings 10.3 million vs. 10.7 million, job quits 4.0 million vs. 4.1 million, nonfarm payrolls 263,000 vs. 284,000 and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7%. Weekly employment numbers showed a drop in initial jobless claims from 241,000 to 225,000 while continuing claims rose to 1.61 million from 1.55 million. Quarterly stats included a better-than-expected jump in real gross domestic product to +2.9% in Q3 vs. the Q2 figure of +2.6%. Real gross domestic income was +0.3% in Q3 compared with the drop in Q2 (-0.8%).

Stock indices rose as the DJIA ended the week at 34,429.88 (+0.2%), the S&P 500 finished at 4,071.70 (+1.1%), and the NASDAQ Composite closed at 11,461.50 (+2.1%). CBOE’s VIX retreated 7.0%, marking 19.06 at settlement. In currencies, the USD Index lost 1.3%, with the futures ending at 104.500 on Friday. Commodities in the S&P GSCI futures portfolio increased by 1.1%, pushing the index to 611.52 as the week ended.

Strength persisted across the board for the futures on our metals list. Closing prices and percentage increases were: gold at $1,809.60 (+2.3%), silver at $23.250 (+7.6%), platinum at $1,026.60 (+3.9%), palladium at $1,901.10 (+3.8%), copper at $3.8505 (+6.1%) and aluminum at $2,545.50 (+7.7%).

In energy markets, all but one of the futures we report here advanced. Closing prices and their respective movements were as follows: WTI crude at $79.98 per barrel (+4.9%), Brent crude at $85.57 (+2.2%), heating oil at $3.1685 per gallon (+0.01%), RBOB gasoline at $2.2804 (+0.3%), NYMEX natural gas at $6.281 per MMBtu (-14.3%), and ICE TTF Dutch gas at €135.562 per MWh (+4.8%).

The contracts on our list of nine agricultural products ended the week with a score of five up and four down. The gainers were: soybeans at $14.46½ (+0.3%), sugar at 19.48¢ per pound (+0.8), cocoa at $2,536 per metric ton (+2.1%), cotton at 83.20¢ (+3.8%) and live cattle at 153.350 (+0.2%). Those in the red were: corn at $6.46¼ per bushel (-3.7%), wheat at $7.61 (-4.5%), coffee at $1.6260 per pound (-1.5%), and lean hogs at 82.425 (-1.6%).

Futures Referenced in Market Recap

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