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The S&P 500 Materials sector fared poorly this week, with the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) trailing -0.5%.
Gold futures (XAUUSD:CUR) prices gained on Friday, reaching around $2,058.50/oz, and March silver (XAGUSD:CUR) rose 3.1% to $23.41/oz.
Amidst escalating conflict in the Middle East, precious metals saw gains. The safe-haven appeal outweighed a higher dollar and Treasury yields following slightly stronger than expected U.S. inflation data.
Copper futures (HG1:COM) also showed positivity, with Reuters reporting benchmark three-month copper (HG1:COM) on the London Metal Exchange traded +0.6% at $8,424/metric ton, after sliding to a one-month low of $8,320 on Wednesday.
Among basic material stocks ($2B market cap or more), some top gainers this week were:
- WD-40 Company (WDFC) +17.56%; Shares jumped after top and bottom line beats for Q1.
- Osisko gold royalties (OR) +7.65%
- Eldorado Gold (EGO) +7.61%
- Gold Fields (GFI) +5.16%
- Kinross Gold (KGC) +4.62
On the other hand, some of the top losers among basic material stocks included:
- Sigma Lithium (SGML) -12.61%
- Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) -9.77%
- Nutrien (NTR) -7.83%
- Gerdau (GGB) -7.74%
- Mosaic (MOS) -6.48%
Other materials ETFs to watch include: 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), and Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX).
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