US equity market softened today, with tech and energy stocks driving the decline. The Fed and the ECB minutes this week should reaffirm the central bank's rhetoric regarding the December meetings. Meanwhile, application for credit cards in the US remains robust, despite high interest rates, with the rates reaching 27.1% in October; demand is strongest amongst consumers with high credit scores. The dollar jumped higher back above 110, and the 10yr US Treasury yield settled at 3.78%. Little moves were seen in the 2-5yr yields in recent weeks, with most of the flows priced in at the back-end of the curve.
The sentiment soured in the metals space following a rise of covid cases in China -- not even a week after the partial removal of restrictions in some regions. At the same time, the economy continues to support the decline from the fiscal standpoint, with the latest statement from financial regulators asking the banks to stabilise lending to property developers. This still struggled to lift the sentiment. Tin sold off by more than 6.0% on the day, another big move for the metal that has seen large moves on the day in recent weeks; the metal closed at $21,159/t. Zinc followed suit, falling by more than 4.0%, with a decline of more than $70/t seen in the latter half of the day, closing at $2,906/t. Lead also closed lower at $2,906/t. Aluminium gapped lower to $2,400/t before edging slightly lower to close at $2,379/t. Copper fell for the sixth straight day back below the $8,000/t support level to $7,880.50/t.
Oil futures were also lower on the back of China news but also the possibility of OPEC+ increasing output up to 500,000 bl/d. WTI and Brent now trade at $75/bl and $82/bl, the lows not seen since late September. At the same time, as sanctions on energy exports loom for Russia, data suggest that the country has already lost more than 90% of its market in the bloc’s northern regions.
All price data is from 21.11.2022 as of 17:30
