Materials Sector Weekly Roundup: The sector sees red, steelmakers at the bottom

Vladimir Zapletin

Commodities were the biggest loser this week in the S&P 500, which posted its worst weekly performance since mid-June, falling 4.78% over the five-day session. The sector is down -6.65% and the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB) -6.62%.

Gold (XAU:USDCUR) fell to $1,662/oz for the week, its lowest since April 2020. Meanwhile, silver (XAGUSD:CUR) gained 4.9% to start the week and close at +3.8% on Friday . This contributed to a recent rebound in the economy, which is now +9.3% since the end of August.

In contrast, benchmark copper was viewed on the London Metal Exchange fall weekly of around 3% amid a stronger dollar and a weaker yuan. Aluminum was also down about 2.3% to $2,254 a ton.

Steelmakers US Steel (X) and Nucor (NUE) also came under pressure this week after releasing weaker-than-expected Q3 estimates.

Take a look at this week’s top gainers among basic materials stocks (market cap of $2 billion or more):

  • Group Simec (SIM) +3.32%
  • Livent (LTHM) +0.91%
  • Applied GCP Technologies (GCP) -0.35%
  • Sigma Lithium (SGML) -0.47%
  • Newmont (NEM) -1.30%

The top losers were:

  • US Steel (X) -21.17%
  • Cleveland Cliffs (CLF) -20.63%
  • Alcoa (AA) -20.10%
  • Nukor (NUE) -19.08%
  • Olin (OLN) -18.53%

Other material ETFs to keep an eye on: iShares Global Timber & Forestry ETF (WOOD), Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF, Vanguard Materials ETF (VAW), iShares Global Materials ETF (MXI), SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF (XME), VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING), Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX).

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