Weekly Update 3 Jul 2020

Bonds and currencies (both national and crypto) fell, while equities and commodities were mixed but mostly higher. The largest gains were in coffee, which rose 5.3%, and crude oil, which added 4.1%. Ethereum fell 3.3%, the largest loss in the table for this week.

The Japanese Yen fell more than any other major national currency, declining 1.6%. The Chinese Yuan fell the least, giving up 0.1%. The British Pound (not in table) also outperformed, dropping 0.2%. The US Dollar lost 1.4%, as did its short term notes. Long dated treasuries fell 2.6%.

It is worth noting that in spite of their relative out performance, the Chinese Yuan and British Pound both made new all-time lows this week. And the Swiss Franc (not in table) came very close to a new low, and closed down 1.0% for the week.

Bitcoin traded between 161 and 163 grams for most of the week, then declined on Thursday and Friday to finish at 159.4 grams, down 2.2%. Ethereum also closed on the lows of the week, off 3.3%. Some smaller cryptos fell much more, however. For instance, DASH (not in table) ended down 7.4%.

Equities were a bright spot this week. The only falling index was the Japanese Nikkei, which closed down 2.5%. Gold stocks rose 2.6%, and the S&P 500 rallied 2.5%.

The week's largest gains were in commodities, as coffee surged 5.3% and crude oil rose 4.1%. The metals were divided as silver and platinum fell 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, while palladium gained 1.7% and copper added 0.1%.