The volatility in precious metals showed no signs of abating last week, with silver in particular continuing to undergo wild swings in both directions. Thursday’s forced capitulation event erased any remaining good will for the white metal, resulting in a weekly close of around $77.40 per ounce despite visiting highs of $86 in preceding sessions. Silver is off to a rough start this Monday morning, immediately falling 3% before most traders could even get out of bed. A similar story for gold, which was unable to cling on to $5,000 this morning and is showing a distinct lack of enthusiasm on the buy side. Very little is happening over in cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin remaining flat so far today.
The newly coined “AI scare trade” finally ran out of targets last Friday, leaving markets with no prevailing narrative with which to drive them. US indices all closed flat at the end of last week, settling in early for the long weekend ahead. All in all, it was a disappointing week for US stocks, many of which experienced heavy selling pressure as one after the other, different sectors fell victim to AI fearmongering. Wealth management, insurance, transport, logistics and property all took their turn in the crosshairs, leaving investors with the obvious question of what comes next? Technology companies were the most affected, leaving the Nasdaq Composite 2.1% worse off compared to the week prior, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones shed 1.4% and 1.2% respectively.
The economic calendar is a little sparse over the next couple of days, but will pick up as the week progresses. Tuesday will deliver the latest on the UK labour situation, followed by Canadian inflation figures later in the day. UK inflation follows on Wednesday, before giving way to the FOMC minutes from January. Last but not least, Friday will deliver a slew of data releases, including Japanese inflation figures, US fourth quarter GDP growth, and finally the December PCE Price Index. The earnings calendar meanwhile has little to offer this week, with the exception of Walmart (WMT), which will publish before market open on Thursday.
Crucially, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are closed today in commemoration of Washington’s Birthday, while Chinese markets will remain closed until next Monday in celebration of the Chinese New Year. The lack of market participants is likely to affect volatility today and throughout the rest of the week, especially in precious metals. Extra caution is advised.
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OTWÓRZ KONTO