Another mixed week, in many ways a reversal of last week's trends. Currencies were mostly higher, while stocks were higher in the US, but lower in Japan and Europe. Commodities were volatile: crude oil again made the biggest gains this week, rising 9.5%, and the largest losses were once again in cotton, down 3.3%.
The only falling currencies were the Chinese Yuan, which lost 0.5%, and Bitcoin, which fell 1.7%. The biggest currency gains were in the Euro, which rose 1.9%. Bonds were mixed, with the short term SHY gaining 0.3% (a bit less than USD cash, which rose 0.4%) while the long term TLT fell 0.6%, giving back all of the previous week's gains.
Aside from the gold stocks, equities were little changed. In the US, the S&P 500 gained 0.4% and the Dow rose 0.3%, While the Euro STOXX fell 0.4%, and the Japanese Nikkei 225 lost 0.3%. Gold stocks pulled back this week, losing 3.2% to close at 6.2 grams – just below its long-term resistance.
Crude oil, which rose 5.5% last week, rocketed 9.5% higher this week. The week's largest losses were once again in cotton, off 3.3%. Metals were mixed, with platinum falling 3.1% and silver dropping 1.9%, while palladium rose 2.9% and copper gained 1.7%.
