Weekly Update 15 Feb 2019
National currencies and bonds were lower, major stock indexes were higher, and cryptos were mixed… but the big price moves were in commodities. Crude oil soared 5.7% while coffee and cotton fell 4.3% and 3.3% respectively. Platinum dropped to another new all-time low, while palladium gained 3.0% to reach a new 15-year high.
As mentioned above, all currencies fell this week, led by the Japanese Yen, which closed down 0.9% and the Euro, which dropped 0.7%. The USD fell least, giving up just 0.1%, while the Chinese Yuan declined 0.2%. Bonds did worse than USD cash, as the short term SHY was off 0.2% and the long term TLT fell 0.4%.
Bitcoin rose early in the week, then gradually declined to close down 1.4%. Ethereum followed a similar pattern, rising to 2.95 grams on Sunday, then declining slowly to finish the week at 2.89 grams, up 2.2%.
Gold stocks were the only equities to finish lower, as the HUI closed down 0.7%. The Dow Industrials rose 3.0%, and the Euro STOXX50 ended up 2.5%. The Nikkei had the smallest gains for a major index, rising 1.9%.
Crude oil powered higher each day, rising 5.7% for the week. Palladium also made major gains, closing up 3.0%, a new 15-year high. The largest losses were in coffee, off 4.3%, and cotton, down 3.3%. Platinum also fell, giving up 1.5% and setting a new all-time low of 18.55 grams on Thursday.
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Filed under Bitcoin, Bonds, Coffee, Commodities, Cotton, Dow Jones Industrials, EUR, Platinum, Stocks, US Dollar by