Report for the 6th week of the year spanning Friday February 3rd to Friday February 10th 2023.
The top performing assets year-to-date (YTD) so far have all been cryptocurrencies except Lumber futures made the list the previous two weeks. This week Lumber futures have fallen out of top 10 and the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Index has made the 10th spot with a YTD gain of 14.4%. View header image in full screen.
Economic Highlights
Monday Feb 6th
- No notable economic reports
Tuesday Feb 7th
- Consumer Credit for December increased 11.6B significantly less than expected 24.5B and much lower than November’s 33.1B
Wednesday Feb 8th
- MBA Mortgage Applications Index for last week increased by 7.4% compared to the prior week decrease of 9.0%
- EIA Crude Oil Inventories increased by 2.42M barrels last week compared to prior week increase of 4.14M
- Wholesale Inventories for December increased by 0.1% lower than expected of 0.5% and less than November’s increase of 0.9%
Thursday Feb 9th
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week increased by 13,000 to 196,000 new claims slightly over expected of 194,000
- Continuing Jobless Claims increased by 38,000 to 1.688 million
- EIA Natural Gas Inventories declined last week by 217 bcf the previous week inventories decreased by 151 bcf (billion cubic feet)
Friday Feb 10th
- Preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment for February is 66.4 better than expected of 65.0 and better than January of 64.9
- Treasury Budget for January was down 38.8B from down 85.0B in December
See more Economic News at Briefing.com.
US Stocks
The US stock market was down reasonably this week, with the Nasdaq leading the decline of major indices giving up 2.41%. All sector indices fell last week except Energy which posted a nice gain of 5.03%. All the rest declined with Communication Services leading the way with a 6.59% drop, followed by Consumer Discretionary and Real Estate -2.22% and -2.01% respectively.
| Index | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJIA | 33,869.27 | -56.74 | -0.17% | 33,591.99 | 34,252.57 | 2.18% | ||
| Nasdaq | 11,718.12 | -288.83 | -2.41% | 11,630.54 | 12,150.22 | 11.96% | ||
| S&P 500 | 4,090.46 | -46.02 | -1.11% | 4,060.79 | 4,176.54 | 6.54% | ||
| Wilshire 5000 | 40,790.40 | -594.96 | -1.44% | 40,730.17 | 41,584.43 | 7.13% |
| Sector Index | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communication Services | 179.86 | -12.69 | -6.59% | 179.86 | 194.74 | 12.86% | ||
| Consumer Discretionary | 1,150.55 | -26.12 | -2.22% | 1,150.55 | 1,177.70 | 14.43% | ||
| Consumer Staples | 762.70 | -4.14 | -0.54% | 755.67 | 767.03 | -2.11% | ||
| Energy | 692.10 | 33.15 | 5.03% | 656.34 | 692.10 | 2.94% | ||
| Financials | 606.18 | -2.32 | -0.38% | 603.75 | 614.71 | 6.40% | ||
| Health Care | 1,543.29 | -3.03 | -0.20% | 1,528.98 | 1,547.00 | -2.66% | ||
| Industrials | 864.22 | -6.06 | -0.70% | 857.89 | 870.62 | 3.95% | ||
| Information Technology | 2,448.02 | -27.25 | -1.10% | 2,445.00 | 2,505.26 | 12.70% | ||
| Materials | 516.93 | -8.70 | -1.66% | 515.10 | 526.71 | 5.59% | ||
| Real Estate | 252.33 | -5.18 | -2.01% | 251.66 | 255.77 | 8.59% | ||
| Utilities | 343.74 | -1.31 | -0.38% | 336.99 | 348.04 | -4.11% |
Global Stocks
Stocks around the globe were all down last week except Japan posting a gain of 0.59%. Hong Kong posted the largest decline loosing 2.17% followed by Australia and France posting losses of 1.65% and 1.44% respectively.
| Global Index | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK FTSE 100 | 7,882.45 | -19.35 | -0.24% | 7,808.39 | 7,949.57 | 5.78% | ||
| France CAC 40 | 7,129.73 | -104.21 | -1.44% | 7,074.63 | 7,225.88 | 10.13% | ||
| Spain IBEX 35 | 9,117.40 | -108.20 | -1.17% | 9,069.60 | 9,296.30 | 10.79% | ||
| Germany DAX 40 | 15,307.98 | -168.45 | -1.09% | 15,246.39 | 15,658.56 | 9.94% | ||
| India BSE Sensex | 60,682.70 | -159.18 | -0.26% | 60,063.49 | 60,863.63 | -0.26% | ||
| China Shanghai Comp | 3,260.67 | -2.74 | -0.08% | 3,225.77 | 3,270.38 | 5.55% | ||
| HK Hang Seng 50 | 21,190.42 | -470.05 | -2.17% | 21,085.72 | 21,637.55 | 7.12% | ||
| Japan Nikkei 225 | 27,670.98 | 161.52 | 0.59% | 27,424.69 | 27,821.22 | 6.04% | ||
| Australia ASX 200 | 7,433.70 | -124.40 | -1.65% | 7,428.80 | 7,567.70 | 5.61% |
Currencies
The US Dollar was very mixed globally but posted a couple notable gains against the Russian Ruble of 4.46% and the Colombian Peso of 2.16%.
| FX Rates | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAD Canadian Dollar | 1.3359 | -0.0033 | -0.25% | 1.3337 | 1.3478 | -1.44% | ||
| MXN Mexican Peso | 18.6641 | -0.3012 | -1.59% | 18.6452 | 19.2577 | -4.23% | ||
| COP Colombian Peso | 4,798.97 | 101.47 | 2.16% | 4,694.94 | 4,811.75 | -1.03% | ||
| BRL Brazilian Real | 5.2165 | 0.0640 | 1.24% | 5.1343 | 5.2994 | -1.29% | ||
| GBP British Pound Sterling | 0.8293 | -0.0003 | -0.04% | 0.8200 | 0.8361 | 0.33% | ||
| EUR Euro | 0.9366 | 0.0105 | 1.13% | 0.9236 | 0.9375 | 0.24% | ||
| CHF Swiss Franc | 0.9238 | -0.0022 | -0.24% | 0.9160 | 0.9292 | -0.14% | ||
| CZK Czech Koruna | 22.2252 | 0.2032 | 0.92% | 21.9626 | 22.3352 | -1.52% | ||
| NOK Norwegian Krone | 10.1520 | -0.0668 | -0.65% | 10.0926 | 10.4338 | 3.50% | ||
| SEK Swedish Krona | 10.4628 | -0.0751 | -0.71% | 10.2951 | 10.6737 | 0.24% | ||
| RUB Russian Ruble | 73.8040 | 3.1540 | 4.46% | 69.0490 | 74.0810 | 0.07% | ||
| SAR Saudi Riyal | 3.7526 | 0.0001 | 0.00% | 3.7460 | 3.7561 | -0.15% | ||
| AED UAE Dirham | 3.6731 | 0.0000 | 0.00% | 3.6728 | 3.6732 | 0.01% | ||
| INR Indian Rupee | 82.49 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 82.23 | 82.94 | -0.31% | ||
| THB Thai Baht | 33.7000 | 0.3200 | 0.96% | 33.2900 | 33.8300 | -2.66% | ||
| SGD Singapore Dollar | 1.3285 | 0.0051 | 0.39% | 1.3198 | 1.3315 | -0.92% | ||
| MYR Malaysian Ringgit | 4.3325 | 0.0745 | 1.75% | 4.2580 | 4.3331 | -1.65% | ||
| CNH Chinese Yuan | 6.8229 | 0.0317 | 0.47% | 6.7720 | 6.8326 | -1.42% | ||
| HKD Hong Kong Dollar | 7.8501 | 0.0030 | 0.04% | 7.8451 | 7.8503 | 0.56% | ||
| KRW South Korean Won | 1,267.97 | 20.11 | 1.61% | 1,244.06 | 1,269.29 | 0.48% | ||
| JPY Japanese Yen | 131.40 | 0.22 | 0.17% | 129.82 | 132.90 | 0.21% | ||
| AUD Australian Dollar | 1.4457 | 0.0008 | 0.06% | 1.4292 | 1.4590 | -1.33% | ||
| NZD New Zealand Dollar | 1.5855 | 0.0050 | 0.32% | 1.5716 | 1.5949 | 0.68% |
Commodities
Precious Metals lost a little this week while energy prices were up. Natural Gas posted the first weekly gain in 7 weeks, its down 38.74% YTD. Lumber gave up its massive gains the past 2 weeks returning back to the 420.00 price range and now only up 12.28% YTD.
| Commodity | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1,874.50 | -2.10 | -0.11% | 1,863.50 | 1,902.30 | 2.64% | ||
| Silver | 22.08 | -0.33 | -1.47% | 21.83 | 22.64 | -8.17% | ||
| Copper | 4.0165 | -0.0400 | -0.99% | 3.9930 | 4.1205 | 5.41% | ||
| Crude Oil | 79.72 | 6.33 | 8.63% | 72.25 | 80.33 | -0.67% | ||
| Natural Gas | 2.5140 | 0.1040 | 4.32% | 2.3500 | 2.6570 | -38.74% | ||
| Lumber | 419.60 | -80.20 | -16.05% | 417.40 | 499.70 | 12.28% | ||
| Corn | 6.8050 | 0.0300 | 0.44% | 6.6925 | 6.8275 | 0.29% | ||
| Wheat | 7.8600 | 0.2925 | 3.87% | 7.4425 | 7.9000 | -0.76% | ||
| Soybeans | 15.4250 | 0.1050 | 0.69% | 15.0575 | 15.4325 | 1.21% | ||
| Cattle | 1.6395 | -0.0018 | -0.11% | 1.6315 | 1.6460 | 3.83% | ||
| Lean Hogs | 0.8333 | -0.0315 | -3.64% | 0.8128 | 0.8630 | -4.99% |
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptos posted a loss this week for the first time in 6 weeks loosing 75.83B in total Market Cap or 7%. Solana (SOL) which is the leading crypto gainer YTD for 2023 gave up 18.44% this week, its YTD gain has been as high as almost 160% but is now only up 102.11% YTD. Doge Coin (DOGE) and Polka Dot (DOT) posted the next largest losses for the week of 12.80% and 11.30% respectively.
| Rank* | Crypto | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | % of Market** | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BTC | 21,651.18 | -1,798.14 | -7.67% | 41.45% | 21,539.39 | 23,556.95 | 30.84% | ||
| 2 | ETH | 1,514.87 | -149.88 | -9.00% | 18.40% | 1,504.83 | 1,690.10 | 26.58% | ||
| 4 | BNB | 305.95 | -26.32 | -7.92% | 4.80% | 303.02 | 337.32 | 24.19% | ||
| 6 | XRP | 0.3826 | -0.0296 | -7.18% | 1.93% | 0.3772 | 0.4193 | 12.56% | ||
| 8 | ADA | 0.3586 | -0.0457 | -11.30% | 1.23% | 0.3558 | 0.4052 | 45.48% | ||
| 9 | DOGE | 0.0811 | -0.0119 | -12.80% | 1.07% | 0.0802 | 0.0995 | 15.36% | ||
| 10 | MATIC | 1.2300 | -0.0100 | -0.81% | 1.07% | 1.1800 | 1.3400 | 62.16% | ||
| 11 | DOT | 6.1900 | -0.8200 | -11.70% | 0.79% | 6.1500 | 7.0500 | 43.62% | ||
| 12 | SOL | 20.13 | -4.55 | -18.44% | 0.75% | 19.84 | 24.89 | 102.11% | ||
| 13 | SHIB | 0.00001292 | 0.00000019 | 1.49% | 0.70% | 0.00001189 | 0.00001562 | 59.76% |
** Represents the % of the total crypto market cap
Other Fascinating Stats
The US National Debt increased .11 billion (Wednesday Feb 1st to Wednesday Feb 8th), to a total debt of $31,454,636,989,653.27 according to the Treasury Department. The National Debt has surpassed congresses approved debt limit of 31.381 trillion for over 3 weeks now. See the Debt to the Penny.
The number of solar Sunspots (magnetic storms on the surface of the sun) increased significantly this week from 66 to 150. See more about Sunspots and space weather.
6,389 more Bitcoin have been mined during the week, the total supply is now 19,287,096 out of the maximum supply of 21,000,000. The max supply is 91.84% mined.
The Federal Funds Effective Rate has dipped a basis point this week to 4.57% with the target rate remaining between 4.50% and 4.75% since February 1st 2023. See more about the Federal Funds Rate.
30 year average mortgage rates in the US have slightly increased this week from 6.09% last week to 6.12% this week. Learn more about 30 year mortgage rates.
Average US regular gas prices have decreased this week 1.29% from 3.49 a gallon last week to 3.44 a gallon this week. See more about US Regular Gas Prices.