Global markets still struggle to regain their values. How have Forex, Stocks, Crypto, and Commodities performed this week? Our weekly overview will outline the markets’ weekly performance to help you determine future trends.
Forex Weekly Overview
The dollar was little changed against major currencies on Friday. Still, it was on track for its best performance in four weeks as investors weighed a boost from Fed tightening and the risk of a U.S. recession.
The U.S. dollar index was up 0.07% in Asian trade after falling 0.32% overnight, as consumer spending fell short of expectations.
For the week, the greenback gained 0.66% in a mixed push and pulled as worries about a global economic slowdown fueled the greenback’s safe-haven status. Markets will be awaiting weak U.S. ISM manufacturing data later in the day.
The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates this month for the first time in a decade. However, economists are divided on how much.
Markets will be watching euro zone inflation data later in the day to understand better how aggressive the ECB is.
The euro was down 0.16% at $1.0469 on Friday, down 0.39% after hitting a two-week low of $1.0381 on Thursday’s dollar weakness.
It was down 0.86% for the week as investors viewed economic conditions in Europe as more precarious than in the U.S., made worse by the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine.
The yen was roughly flat, with a dollar buying 135.77 yen.
During the week, the yen fell to a ten-year low of 137.00 against the dollar as the Fed’s aggressive stance contrasted with the Bank of Japan’s firm dovish stance.
The dollar rose 0.41% against the yen for the fifth week in a row since Friday.
The risk-sensitive Australian dollar was also down 0.26% at $0.6885. It was down 0.81% for the week.
Stocks Weekly Overview
Stocks fell in choppy trading on Friday as the S&P 500 remained in bear market territory, ending its worst first half of the year since at least 1970, with investment amid rising inflation and heightened fears of a recession sparked by Fed rate hikes. Those who continue to sell stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% to surpass 200 points, the S&P 500 lost 0.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.3%.
As the second quarter closed on Friday, shares posted their worst three-month period since the first quarter of 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns plunged the U.S. economy into a brief recession.
Stocks also ended their worst first half in more than 50 years as rising inflation, a Fed rate hike, and Russia’s war in Ukraine fueled recession fears.
After the S&P 500 has fallen about 21% so far in 2022, the last time the stock market fell of that magnitude in the first six months was in 1970 — but later that year, the stock market recovered its losses and later rose 26.5% six months.
Market turmoil in 2022 is already widespread: the prices of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have plummeted by more than 50%, while large tech stocks such as Alphabet, Apple, Facebook parent Meta, and Netflix have all lost more than a fifth of their value in some cases.
Despite a broad sell-off this year, energy stocks such as Occidental Petroleum (up 100%) and some healthcare and consumer stocks such as pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb and beer company Molson Coors (up about 20%) Sector stocks have significantly outperformed the broader market.
Crypto Weekly Overview
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization fell to $870 billion, down more than 2% daily, while Bitcoin plummeted to nearly $19,000. According to CoinMarketCap data at the time of writing, the prices of most of the top cryptocurrencies have fallen in the past 24 hours.
In the past 24 hours, global crypto market trading volume has increased by about 22% to $75.12 billion. DeFi’s total trading volume was $7.22 billion, or 9.6% of the total 24-hour crypto market volume. The trading volume of all stablecoins was 67.2 billion, accounting for 89.45% of the total 24-hour trading volume of the crypto market.
Since yesterday, Bitcoin’s (BTC) dominance has dropped by 0.31% to 42.60%. The price of BTC has been down about 3% in the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $19,457. The BTC price has been down 7.4% in the past seven days.
Commodities Weekly Overview
Oil prices rose 2% on Friday, recovering most of the previous session’s losses. Supply disruptions in Libya and an expected shutdown in Norway outweighed expectations that a slowing economy could hurt demand.
Brent crude futures were up $2.07, or 1.9%, at $111.10 a barrel by 0911 GMT, having fallen to $108.03 earlier in the session.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $1.80, or 1.7%, to $107.56 a barrel after falling to $104.56 a barrel earlier.
Both contracts were down about 3% on Thursday, closing lower for the first time since November.
On Thursday, Libya’s National Oil Corporation declared force majeure at the ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, as well as the El Feel oil field. The NOC said the ports of Brega and Zueitina were still affected by force majeure.
The NOC said production fell sharply, with exports ranging between 365,000 and 409,000 barrels per day, dropping 865,000 barrels compared to “normal” production.
74 Norwegian offshore oil workers on Equinor’s (EQNR.OL) Gudrun, Oseberg South, and Oseberg East platforms will go on strike starting July 5; the Lederne union said on Thursday, which could mean about 4% of Norway’s workers will stop oil production.
Weekly Overview: Bottom Line
How long will the dreadful bear market stay? Investors lose confidence in investing in financial assets. Stay tuned for the following week’s updates.
COMMENTS