Weekly Market Recap – March 10, 2023

On Friday, the F.D.I.C. closed Silicon Valley Bank, seizing nearly $175 billion in deposits. This is the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. President Biden proposed a budget that includes a plan to extend the solvency of Medicare by increasing taxes on individuals earning over $400,000 per year, strengthening Medicare’s power to negotiate medication prices.

Monthly economic statistics reported during the week, compared with prior levels were: factory orders +1.6% vs. +1.8%, wholesale inventories -0.4% vs. +0.1%, consumer credit $14.8 billion vs. $10.7 billion, U.S. trade balance (deficit) -$68.3 billion vs. -$67.2 billion, job openings 10.8 million vs. 11.2 million, federal budget -$262 billion vs. -$217 billion, employment growth 311,000 new jobs vs. 504,000, unemployment rate 3.6% vs. 3.4%, average hourly wages +0.2 % vs. +0.3% and average hourly wages (year over year) +4.6% vs. +4.4%. Initial jobless benefit claims rose to 211,000 from 190,000 the previous week. There were no significant quarterly economic statistics released.

Stocks drifted lower all week and then plunged on Friday as news of the Silicon Valley Bank failure spread. The CBOE VIX lived up to its reputation as the “fear index” by skyrocketing 34.1%. The 24.80 close marked its biggest one-week up move of the year. The three equities indices we track all collapsed in unison: the DJIA ended the week at 31,909.64 (-4.4%), the S&P 500 finished at 3,861.59 (-4.5%), and the NASDAQ Composite closed at 11,138.89 (-4.7%). In currencies, USD Index futures squeaked out a 0.1% rise, ending at 104.552 on Friday. The S&P GSCI futures portfolio of commodities tumbled to 575.92 by the week’s end (-3.3%).

Metals futures were mostly lower. In the contracts we monitor, closing prices and percentage movements were: gold at $1,867.20 per ounce (+0.7%), silver at $20.506 (-3.4%), platinum at $962.20 (-1.8%), palladium at $1,362.30 (-6.0%), copper at $4.0305 per pound (-0.9%) and aluminum at $2,313.00 per metric ton (-3.8%).

In the energy markets we follow, all but one of the products tumbled during the week. In the black was ICE Dutch TTF gas, rising 17.5% to €52.857 per MWh. The closing levels and percentage decreases of the five that dropped were: WTI crude oil at $76.68 per barrel (-3.8%), Brent crude at $82.78 (-3.6%), heating oil at $2.7729 per gallon (-4.8%), RBOB gasoline at $2.6458 (-3.8%), and NYMEX natural gas plunged to $2.430 per MmBtu (-19.2%).

The futures on our list of nine agricultural products ended the week with a score of two up and seven down. The gainers were: sugar at 21.16¢ per pound (+1.1%), and lean hogs at 87.450 (+3.4%). Those in the red were: soybeans at $15.07 per bushel (-0.8%), wheat at $6.79¼ (-4.2%), corn at $6.17¼ (-3.5%), coffee at $1.7780 per pound (-0.03%), cocoa at $2,704 per metric ton (-2.0%), cotton at 78.18¢ (-7.1%) and live cattle at 164.275 (-0.7%).

Futures Referenced in Market Recap

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