US stocks continued their downward trend today, driven by increasing Treasury yields following a better-than-expected retail sales report yesterday. Today’s economic data pointed to an uptick in Industrial Production, with the March figure at 0.4% MoM, compared to 0.1% registered in February. While Housing Starts and Building Permits decreased in March, they remained at historically high levels of 1321k and 1458k, respectively. Economic data from the world’s largest economy continue to show signs of resilience, leading investors to push forward their expectations of the start of the Fed monetary easing. The dollar index remained elevated at 106.2, while the 10-year US Treasury yield edged higher to 4.65%.
Base metals trading was muted today, given yesterday’s response to new Russian material sanctions. As of now, markets show no immediate concern for supply availability; however, this move is likely to keep affected metals slightly elevated. In particular, aluminium is likely to hold firm above $2,500/t in the meantime. Copper is also being continuously supported by the trend support, prompting prices to trade at $9,468/t. Lead and zinc remained unchanged at $2,148/t and $2,771/t, respectively.
After appreciating at the end of yesterday’s trading day, gold is on the path to reach $2,400/oz level. It traded at $2,386/oz today as safe-haven demand remained strong despite raising Treasury yields. Conversely, silver gave back yesterday’s gains and stood at $28.3/oz. Oil prices were on the raise again with WTI and Brent trading at $85.5/bl and $90.1/bl, respectively.
All price data is from 16.04.2024 as of 17:30
