After last week’s announcement from the Federal Reserve to maintain interest rates at near-zero, its decision to do so appears justified following a spate of disappointing early-week economic data, headlined by lower Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) readings for China and the Eurozone. Markit also released its PMI reading for the United States, which currently sits at a 22-month low, despite remaining in +50 expansion territory. As a result, commodities continued their volatile run; platinum had a particularly tough week following the Volkswagen emissions scandal, falling to $925 per ounce on Wednesday before recovering to finish at $947 per ounce (↓3.7%) on Friday. Silver closed slightly lower (↓0.1%) at $15.07 per ounce on Friday, while both gold (↑0.7%) and palladium (↑8.8%) rose during the week to finish at $1,146 and $665 per ounce respectively. After an early week decline that saw the gold price fall from just under $1,140 to as low as $1,122 per ounce on Wednesday, the yellow metal recovered as equity markets struggled. The price of copper crashed over 4.5% during the week as a result of the poor PMI data from China, Europe, and the United States to close at $2.28 per pound, while zinc (↓3.5%), and lead (↓1.7%) were also down, finishing at $0.73, and $0.75 per pound respectively. Nickel (↑2.76%) gained ground to finish at $4.50 per pound. The price of WTI crude also reflected the negative macroeconomic tone for the week for most of the week, before finishing flat at $45.59 per barrel, while the UxC Broker Average Price (BAP) of uranium continued its stable run over the past few weeks, hovering just above $37 per pound to finish at $37.00 per pound.
Companies covered: $CGT, $CXB, $NAN, $NXE, $AAL, $AGI, $EDR, $EDV, $GLEN.L, $LUN, $HBM, $LUC
Downlaod link: http://cdn.ceo.ca/1b0c09n-MMSep252015_CEO_secured.pdf