The S&P Materials sector and the Materials Select Sector SPDR (NYSEARCA:XLB) concluded the trading week with a slight dip of -0.7%.
Copper and aluminum prices rebounded on Friday following two days of declines, helped by tight supply, firmer oil prices and hopes of more Chinese stimulus. As per Reuters, three-month copper on the LME (HG1:COM) reached $10,358/ton by 1115 GMT (+0.5%), while three-month LME aluminum (LMAHDS03:COM) gained 1% to $3,417.
"Base metals have been tracking to some extent to what's going on in energy markets, not least because that pushes up their costs. Supply of most metals is constrained, stocks are low, so we're forecasting prices will stay high for most of this year, even with the slowdown in China," said Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics.
Other metals, LME zinc climbed 1.2% to $4,237/ton, tin grew 0.1% to $43,625, while nickel was little changed at $33,700.
Lumber futures (LB1:COM), meanwhile, continues to be under pressure, remaining below its crucial $1000 per thousand board feet level. Prices have dipped ~30% M/M amid demand uncertainty and surging mortgage rates that is making the housing market more restrictive for first time home buyers.
Taking a look at the week's top 5 gainers among basic material stocks ($300M market cap or more):
- Intrepid Potash (IPI) +30.36%
- Grupo Simec (SIM) +14.78%
- Mosaic (MOS) +12.20%
- LSB Industries (LXU) +8.46%
- FMC Corp (FMC) +6.05%
The week's top 5 decliners among basic material stocks ($300M market cap or more) were:
- Lithium Americas (LAC) -21.73%
- TMC the metals company (TMC) -18.45%
- Cemex (CX) -16.88%
- Standard Lithium (SLI) -14.78%
- Piedmont Lithium (PLL) -12.66%
Other materials ETFs to watch: 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).