Oats_Phawat
The materials sector had a bullish run this week, with the S&P 500 materials sector rising. +3.05% and Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund up +3.13%benefiting in part from comments by Federal Reserve spokesmen that have led to a consensus that the central bank is done raising rates.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the risks of under- and over-tightening were becoming more balanced, suggesting the Fed had finished its policy tightening measures and could cut rates early next year.
As a result, Comex gold (XAUUSD:CUR) rallied on Friday to its highest ever close and its third consecutive weekly gain. Prices of the precious metal also reacted to the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, as the end of the truce between Israel and Hamas could “continue to fuel risk aversion and investor concerns,” said the CEO of DHF Capital , Bas Kooijman.
Also boosting bullion's appeal, benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields fell to a two-and-a-half-month low.
Meanwhile, three-month benchmark copper (HG1:COM) on the London Metal Exchange rose to its highest levels in three months on Friday, following better-than-expected data from top consumer China and a shortage of offer caused by the imminent closure of an important mine in Panama.
This week's top gainers among basic materials stocks (with a market cap of $2 billion or more) were driven by gold's bull run:
- Anglogold Ashanti (AU) +15.23%
- Gold Fields (GFI) +12.18%
- Eldorado Gold (EGO) +11.18%
- Chemours (CC) +13.63%
- B2Gold (BTG) +10%
Here are the biggest losers among basic materials stocks:
- Franco-Nevada (FNV) -4.10%; The gold company maintained its full-year guidance despite assuming there will be no further contributions from the suspended Cobre Panama mine.
- Suzano (SUZ) -3.90%
- Sasol (SSL) -3.28%
- CF Industries Holdings (CF) -1.99%
- West Fraser Timber (WFG) -1.09%
Other ETF materials to consider: iShares Global Timber & Forestry ETF (WOOD), Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF, Vanguard Materials ETF (VAW), iShares Global Materials ETF (MXI), SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF (XME), VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING), Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX).
