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The strongest national currency was the US Dollar, which advanced 3.5%. The Chinese Yuan was the weakest currency, and even it gained 1.6%. Long term treasury bonds and short term notes did much better than cash, rising 6.8% and 4.0% respectively. After weeks of relentless selling, this was a welcome relief rally for the currencies.
The only falling stock index was the Nikkei 225, which dropped 1.6%. The Dow Industrials rose 4.5%, while the Euro STOXX50 gained 2.8% and the S&P 500 rose 2.5%. Gold stocks were up slightly, advancing 0.9%.
The strongest commodities were crude oil, up 2.6% and copper, up 2.5%. Precious metals were mixed, with platinum up 1.5%, but palladium down 2.8% and silver off 2.1%
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The strongest national currency was the Yen, which advanced 1.6%. The Euro was the weakest currency, falling 0.9%. Long term treasury bonds were little changed, gaining just 0.1%, and short term notes did slightly better than cash, giving up 0.3% to the US Dollar's loss of 0.4%. Note that most major currencies made new all-time lows this week, but rallied by week's end.
The only rising stock index was the Nikkei 225, which gained 0.6%. The Dow Industrials fell 2.9%, while the HUI gold stocks and the S&P 500 each dropped 2.1%.
Coffee was the weakest commodity, falling 5.1%. Platinum hit another all-time low on Wednesday, but rallied to finish the week down 2.6%. Silver was the strongest commodity (and asset overall) rising 5.4%, just enough to erase the prior week's losses.
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The strongest national currency was the Euro, which advanced 0.2%. The US Dollar was the weakest currency, falling 1.6%. Long term treasury bonds did worse than cash, dropping 1.7%, but short term notes did slightly better than cash, giving up 1.4%. Note that most major currencies made new all-time lows this week, but rallied by week's end. The Chinese Yuan is shown as unchanged because the Shanghai Gold Exchange is closed for Lunar New Year. Based on FX rates, I estimate the CNY is down about 1.0% this week.
The only rising equities were the Euro STOXX50, which gained 3.2%. The index closed at a new all-time high in Euros, but is 89.4% below its all-time high in gold. Similarly, the S&P 500 closed just 0.1% below its all-time high in Dollars, but sits 62.4% below its ATH in gold.
Platinum hit a new all-time low on Monday, but rallied to finish the week down 1.1%. Coffee was the strongest commodity, rising 2.2%.
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The strongest national currency was once again the Yen, which declined 0.2%. (Note that the Chinese Yuan is shown as unchanged because the Shanghai Gold Exchange is closed for Lunar New Year. Based on FX rates, I estimate the CNY is down about 2.8%.) The Euro was the weakest currency, falling 3.1%. The US Dollar was down 2.2% to a new all-time low of 10.8 mg. USD cash was outperformed by long term treasury bonds which dropped 0.5% to their lowest level since August 2011. Note that most major currencies, including the USD, EUR, JPY, CHF, GBP, AUD, CNY, INR and CAD made new all-time lows this week.
The only rising equities were gold stocks, which gained 2.4%. The Dow Industrials fared the worst, falling 2.7%, followed by the S&P 500, which closed down 2.4%.
Platinum and cotton made new all-time lows again this week. Cotton fell 2.5% to close at 7.1 mg/lb. Platinum hit a new all-time low on Wednesday, but rallied to finish the week down 0.4%. Palladium fell 4.6% to it's lowest level since November 2011.
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The strongest national currency was the Yen, which declined 0.6%. (Note that the Chinese Yuan, shown in green, only traded for one day this week, before the Shanghai Gold Exchange closed for Lunar New Year.) The Euro was the weakest currency, falling 2.1%. The US Dollar was down 1.3% to a new all-time low of 11.1 mg. USD cash was outperformed by treasury notes, down 1.1%, and treasury bonds, off 0.6%.
The only rising equities were the gold stocks, which gained 1.0%. The S&P 500 fared the worst, falling 2.2%, followed by the Nikkei 225, which closed down 1.5%.
Platinum and cotton made new all-time lows again this week. Cotton fell 3.8% to close at 7.3 mg/lb. Platinum hit a new all-time low on Tuesday, but rallied to finish the week up 1.3%. Silver added 1.2% to close at 350 mg/oz.
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US Dollar cash, down 2.2%, underperformed long term bonds, which fell 2.1%, while short term notes tracked cash with a 2.2% decline. The strongest national currency was the Euro, which was little changed for the week.
US stock markets fell, while overseas markets rallied. The Dow Industrials, off 0.1%, outperformed the S&P 500 index, which despite making a new "all-time high" in US Dollar terms, fell 0.5% to close 60% below it's all-time high as measured in gold. The best performing stock index was the Nikkei 225, up 1.9%.
Platinum and cotton made new all-time lows again this week. Cotton fell 2.2% to close at 7.6 mg/lb. Platinum ended the week at a new low of 10.6 g/oz, down 1.3%. Silver fell 1.5% to close at 0.345 g/oz.
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