Weekly Wrap-up: Volatile Week for Materials Sector

This week, the S&P 500 Materials sector faced a roller-coaster ride, culminating in a -1.63% descent, leaving investors with furrowed brows. The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB) didn’t fare much better, trailing behind at -1.52%.

Gold futures (XAUUSD:CUR) closed the week with a -0.9% dip, ending at $2,042.40 per ounce. This dip marked the first weekly setback in four weeks, triggered as the U.S. dollar and 10-year Treasury yields soared to their highest levels in three weeks.

The week began with a jolt as U.S. job data surpassed expectations, causing an initial tumble in gold prices. Yet, an about-turn ensued, sparked by the Institute for Supply Management’s discouraging service sector survey. This tumult resulted in a rapid $40/oz swing, as futures traders scrambled to reassess the likelihood of a March rate cut.

Elsewhere, silver (XAGUSD:CUR) settled at -3%, closing at $23.122/oz. Precious metal prices now hang in the balance, hinging on the Federal Reserve’s imminent move.

Copper futures (HG1:COM) mirrored the turbulence, slumping to two-week lows at the midpoint. The woes stemmed from apprehensions about demand in China, further exacerbated by lackluster data from the country’s industrial sector.

China’s manufacturing activity bore the brunt, declining for the third consecutive month in December, as the official purchasing managers index plummeted from 49.4 in November.

Riding the waves of fortune, several basic material stocks ($2B market cap or more) managed to emerge as top gainers this week:

• Alpha Metallurgical Resources (AMR) +6.08%
• Arch Resources (ARCH) +6.02%
• Warrior Met Coal (HCC) +5.9%
• CF Industries (CF) +2.80%
• LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) +1.48%

Conversely, the following basic material stocks found themselves at the wrong end of the spectrum:

• Gold Fields (GFI) -12.88%
• Hecla Mining (HL) -11.16%
• Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) -10.14%
• Tronox (TROX) -9.44%
• Avient (AVNT) -9.25%