Market winners: Alcoa, Gold, Wheat!
From a spike in the gold price to the global wheat supply in turmoil, it’s been an interesting week for commodity traders in February so far.
The gold price has seen volatility as tensions continue to escalate and deescalate between Russia and Ukraine.
Similarly, the price of wheat is at risk as sanctions placed on Russian could spell disaster for global industries reliant on the food staple.
Another commodity experiencing volatility is aluminium, as the common metal hit record highs in February 2022 boosting producer Alcoa’s share price.
Today, we look at how the markets performed globally.
Most tradeable instruments weekly:
XAU/US
The gold price hit a fresh eight-month high at $1,903 earlier on February 18. The ongoing tensions in Ukraine have been a major boost for precious metals. The rise wasn’t to last however as proposed meetings between the US and Russia have begun easing fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine. Hopes for diplomacy in Ukraine will remain on many traders’ minds as warring headlines have hit the markets causing a drastic rise in risk sentiment.
ETH/USD
Ethereum barely managed to remain above the $3,000 level on February 17 before ETH traders suffered a disaster on Feb 18.
ETH/USD fell to an intraday low of $2,824.08, the cryptocurrency’s lowest level since February 4.
The drop came as the entire cryptocurrency market experienced yet another selloff. Prices of Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, fell below support at $2,840 and plummeted to $2587. The asset, however, has since regained some of its footing pushing above $2741.
CS
Credit Suisse, one of the world’s biggest banking firms, has come under fire in February. A data link revealed more than 18,000 accounts, worth $100 billion, comprised of clients involved in drug trafficking, corruption, and human rights abuses. The stock hasn’t been rocked by the scandal yet and is in up by 1.30% to $8.89. This hasn’t stopped buyers from snapping up the stock ahead of any disastrous dip that may occur.
Biggest percentage move weekly:
Stock: ALCOA 7.75%
Dwindling stockpiles have pushed the price of aluminium to record highs and Alcoa has reaped the benefits. Its shares are up 7.75% over the past week; it has a monthly price change of 24.85% compared to the overall industry’s price change at 5.64%. Earlier in February, Alcoa reported $896 million in a recent earnings report.
The price of the common metal peaked at $3 200, driven by supply-chain issues and prohibitively expensive costs of production, reports London Metal Exchange.
Commodities: WHEAT 3.22%
The crisis between Ukraine and Russia, two of the world’s biggest wheat producers, has sent the food staple on a rollercoaster. The commodity, usually much less volatile than oil, has seen its prices fluctuate massively in the past month due to proposed sanctions.
The grain markets have turned around three times in one week; Together, the two countries account for almost a third of wheat’s world trade.
If a war were to occur and/or sanctions were to be in place, it could spell disaster for many of the world’s industries reliant on wheat.
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