Materials Sector Weekly Round-up: Sigma Lithium tops list; WD-40 drops to bottom
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The S&P Materials sector closed this trading week with a slight gain of 0.21%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) was also up +0.30%.
Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange touched their highest in nearly two months on Friday, with most base metals moving higher amid tightening fundamentals. According to Reuters, three-month benchmark copper (HG1:COM) on the LME gained 2.1% at $8,297/metric ton, its highest since June 30, before paring gains to $8,163 by 1600 GMT, a rise of 0.4%.
The retreat in prices came after after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that the U.S. economy will need tight monetary policy "for some time" before inflation is under control, which means slower growth.
LME benchmark aluminum (LMAHDS03:COM) held most of its earlier gains, closing at a two-week high of $2,501/ton ( up around 5% for the week). Zinc, lead, tin all registered gains, while nickel turned slightly lower.
Gold futures also fell on Friday in the wake of Powell's hawkish remarks, front-month Comex gold (XAUUSD:CUR) for August delivery closed -1.2% to $1736.10/oz. Powell is "tilting towards aggressive tightening," Wolfpack Capital's Jeff Wright told MarketWatch, which will "send gold lower as it cannot compete for risk free capital with a rising yield" for U.S. Treasurys. August silver (XAGUSD:CUR) settled -1.9% to $18.740/oz, its lowest settlement value in four weeks.
Take a look at this week's top gainers and losers among basic material stocks ($2B market cap or more):
- Sigma Lithium (SGML) +20.97%; Shares are up +128.67% YTD and continue to be propped by a bull run of lithium prices.
- Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ) +19%; Shares of TRQ and other copper miners rose on strength of copper prices during the week.
- Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) +16.32%
- Mosaic (MOS) +15.18%; Mosaic was among U.S. fertilizer producers that saw jumps in share prices as competing European ammonia plants close because of high natural gas prices.
- Livent (LTHM) +15.02%
The week's top decliners were:
- WD-40 Company (WDFC) -6.33%
- Ufp Industries (UFPI) -6.14%
- Suzano (SUZ) -5.39%
- Eagle Materials (EXP) -5.17%
- Boise Cascade (BCC) -4.63%
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).