Weekly Update 25 Oct 2019

National currencies and bonds were lower, cryptocurrencies were higher, and equities and commodities were mixed. The largest gains were in Bitcoin and crude oil, which rose 6.9% and 3.7% respectively. The largest losses were in long term bonds, which declined 2.3%. The US Dollar was 1.5% lower.

National currencies were all lower, with the Swiss Franc (not in table) taking the largest hit, falling 2.2%. Tied for second worst were the Euro and the British Pound Sterling (not in table) which each declined 2.0%. The Chinese Yuan showed relative strength, dropping only 0.8%. USD cash fell 1.5%, but its bonds did worse, as the short term SHY declined 1.6% and the long term TLT dropped 2.3%.

Cryptocurrencies had a good week, as Bitcoin rose 6.9% and Ethereum gained 2.9%. Many of the smaller cryptos also did well; DASH, for example, advanced 1.6%.

Equities were mixed, with the Japanese Nikkei rising 1.4% while the Euro STOXX fell 1.1%. Even US indexes were mixed, as the DOW Industrials rose 0.3% and the S&P 500 declined 0.4%. But the British FTSE (not in table) made the largest gains of all, rising 2.4%.

Crude oil and platinum dominated the commodity action, gaining 3.7% and 3.5% respectively. Cotton had the largest loss, dropping 1.9%. Silver rose 2.3% while copper was little changed, off 0.1%.