US stocks declined today after a round of disappointing corporate earnings results, with General Electric citing new pressures growing as it grapples with deteriorating supply chain conditions. US new home sales fell to a 4-month low in March, as high prices compounded with surging borrowing costs put significant pressure on the market. The 10yr US Treasury yield softened for the third straight day while the dollar broke above 102.
Base metals saw some moderate gains today following yesterday’s sell-off after China reassured the market it would provide support for the economy. In particular, this round of support would be directed towards the industries and small businesses hit hard by the pandemic. The statement followed Monday’s move to cut the FX reserve ratio to help the falling renminbi. However, the recovery in metals’ prices has not been strong enough to offset yesterday’s losses, suggesting investors are hesitant about the effectiveness of such moves given the deteriorating economic backdrop. Nickel shot up higher, breaking above the resistance of $33,000/t to close at $33,076/t. Copper opened higher day-on-day but struggled above $10,000/t and trended lower to close at $9,860/t. Zinc and lead both saw moderate gains, as the metals closed at $4,183.50/t and $2,320/t, respectively. Aluminium was the only one down on the day, closing marginally lower at $3,064.50/t.
Europe’s natural gas prices surged on reports of a halt in flow of energy from Russia to Poland, creating further uncertainty surrounding the supply environment. Meanwhile, oil futures rebounded following the PBoC’s statement vowing to support the slowing economy. WTI and Brent are trading back above $100/bl at $101.28/bl and $104.88/bl. Elsewhere, German Minster Habeck stated that the economy has already cut its reliance on Russian oil enough to introduce a full embargo on its imports. Precious metals’ performance was mixed, with gold and silver trading at $1,903/oz and $23.56/oz, at the time of writing.
For more in-depth analysis of base and precious metals, please see our Quarterly Metals report.
All price data is from 26.04.2022 as of 17:30
