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The S&P 500 Materials sector was down -1.63% this week, with the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB) trailing -1.52%.
Gold futures (XAUUSD:CUR) closed -0.9% to $2,042.40/oz for the week, their first weekly decline in four weeks after a strong end to 2023, as the U.S. dollar and 10-year Treasury yields hit their highest levels in three weeks.
Gold initially fell Friday after U.S. data showed a larger than expected addition of 216K new jobs in December, then rebounded on the weak survey from the Institute for Supply Management, which revealed a drop in business confidence at service oriented companies; gold moved ~$40/oz in 90 minutes, as analysts said futures traders rushed to reprice the odds of a March rate cut.
Silver (XAGUSD:CUR) settled -3% to $23.122/oz. Precious metal prices will move depending on the Federal Reserve’s next move.
Copper futures (HG1:COM) also had a tough week, with three-month copper (HG1:COM) on the London Metal Exchange falling to to two-week lows Wednesday, as concerns about demand in China were reinforced by weak data from the country’s industrial sector.
China’s manufacturing activity declined for a third straight month in December, as the official purchasing managers index fell last month from 49.4 in November.
Take a look at this week’s top gainers among basic material stocks ($2B market cap or more):
- Alpha Metallurgical Resources (AMR) +6.08%
- Arch Resources (ARCH) +6.02%
- Warrior Met Coal (HCC) +5.9%
- CF Industries (CF) +2.80%
- LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) +1.48%
Here are the top losers among basic material stocks:
- Gold Fields (GFI) -12.88%
- Hecla Mining (HL) -11.16%
- Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) -10.14%
- Tronox (TROX) -9.44%
- Avient (AVNT) -9.25%
More on Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF
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