Weekly Market Update: 25th of January 2021

Domestic Markets | S&P/ASX200 Up +85pts (1.3%)

Markets Rebounded from Last Week.

CBA -$0.29 (-0.34%)
FMG -$0.86 (-3.4%)

The ASX rose 1.3% over the course of the week, as Australia’s unemployment rate continued to decline with the country creating more jobs than expected. Despite this, consumer sentiment declined in December.

Global Markets | Dow Jones Up +157pts (0.5%)

Resuming its rally.

S&P 500 +69pts (1.8%)
Nasdaq +570pts (4.4%)

The three major US indices all increased in a shortened trading week, with the Nasdaq the best performer, increasing by 4.4%. A growing number of Republicans have expressed doubts about the need for a new stimulus bill, though there are still mechanics to push it through.

Europe | DAX, CAC, FTSE
The Euro Stoxx 50 traded flat in a week which saw poor manufacturing and services activity for a third consecutive month. The index is expected to continue to struggle this week as 4 new countries introduced COVID restrictions this weekend.

Asia | HSI, CSI, KOSPI, NIKKEI
The CSI 300 increased by 2.1%, despite the deterioration in the country’s COID situation. Chinese stocks increased in the week due to US stimulus hopes. The Nikkei 225 had a choppy week with no consecutive days of increases or decreases. PM Yoshihide Suga is already facing a threat to his position, facing increasing disapproval rates due to his recent handling of COVID.

Commodities | Gold 29USD/oz (1.6%)

Gold Prices Rebound.

Copper 0.03USD/Lbs (0.8%)
Iron Ore -2.00USD/T (-1.2%)

Precious Metals | Gold, Silver
Precious metals prices rose for the first time this year. Gold increased 1.6% over the course of the week to $1,855.39, despite gold prices dipping in the Friday trading session. This was largely due to investors anticipating stimulus news in the US, while a worsening in the COVID situation in the US and Europe saw gold become more attractive from a safe-haven point of view. Silver prices rallied 3.1% last week.

Oil | WTI Crude, Brent
WTI crude was flat over the week while Brent crude rose 0.5%. Despite a strong start to the week, negative news and sentiment in the second half of the week caused oil markets to decline. This news consisted of a surprise build in American oil stocks of 4.35m barrels despite an expected decrease of 1.17m barrels, the US Transportation Department said that travel on US roads fell by 11.0% while COVID pessimism also played its part in oil’s decline, especially due to weak oil demand in general.

Iron Ore
Iron ore prices declined for the first time this year, dropping 1.1% over the course of the week, despite industrial data coming from China which showed that the country had beat its previous import record by some 100m tonnes. A rise in Chinese COVID restrictions and a resumption in production by BHP and Vale in Brazil provided a damper on iron prices – although a fire in one of Vale’s ports means that there’ll likely be yet another small decrease in Brazilian exports.

Copper
Copper prices had a choppy week, seeing a 0.8% improvement over the course of the week. The red metal, which serves as an economic barometer, responded positively to China’s better than expected fourth-quarter GDP results. However, optimism was again tempered by COVID fears, especially as some Chinese cities saw new restrictions placed on them as the country saw its highest daily rise in COVID cases in more than 5 months.