US stocks continued to decline, albeit at a more moderate rate, with high inflation and tightening monetary policy deteriorating the outlook. The NY Fed President Williams stated that unemployment might increase as the Fed fights inflationary pressures, while Fed President at Richmond said that the Fed would adjust the monetary policy to the point that it neither stimulates the economy nor stalls it. In the meantime, US small business confidence fell to the lowest level since April 2020, with firms remaining concerned about inflation and, in turn, continued rise in input costs. The dollar remained elevated at around 104 levels, and the 10yr US Treasury yield softened below 3.00%. Chinese stocks reopened today after the holidays to face the wave of sour sentiment, with stocks in Hong Kong feeling the brunt of the decline.
Mixed performance among the base metals group today, following the acute sell-off yesterday; the performance was less volatile as a result. Nickel saw moderate downside pressures, closing at $28,414/t; volumes rebounded somewhat by the end of last week but continued to edge slightly lower since. Tin continued to decline, closing lower at $35,527/t. Lead and zinc continued the declines, closing lower at $2,114/t and $3,597.50/t, respectively. Aluminium and copper were the only ones that managed to closing marginally higher day-on-day, at $2,753.50/t and $9,228.50/t, respectively.
Oil futures fluctuated as the European countries continued to assess the sanctions on a phase-out of oil from Russia. WTI and Brent now trade at $100.90/bl and $103.67/bl. Gold and silver were once again driven by the macroeconomic figures, with a stronger dollar pushing the metals to trade at $1,845/oz and $21.64/oz, respectively.
For more in-depth analysis of base and precious metals, please see our Quarterly Metals report.
All price data is from 10.05.2022 as of 17:30
