Markets Weekly Recap

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Key Takeaways

• Stocks retreat, US dollar surges after surprisingly positive retail sales data
• Gold slides to a one-month low; bitcoin struggles to hold above $48,000

Market Sentiment Wavers

Financial markets experienced renewed jitters across the board as September deals have so far failed to produce robust growth in stocks globally.

Over the past week, the three major indexes in the US stock market could not gather enough buying momentum and traded largely sideways. Broader risk-averse mood spread through stocks around the world as European shares and Asian equities were also under pressure.

Wall Street attempted a rebound on Wednesday with the S&P500 logging its best day since late August. The sentiment, however, turned sour over the week as investors braced for risks and uncertainty ahead into the month.

Economic Data Arrives Mixed

Surprisingly high retail sales data released Wednesday indicated sales at retailers increased 0.7% in August, topping estimates for a decline of 0.8%. The report fueled a move higher in the US dollar as the EUR/USD slipped to a two-week low. The better-than-expected reading pushed the price of gold to a one-month low. The precious metal dropped to levels around $1,750 per troy ounce.

Weekly jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, arrived higher by 20,000 at 332,000 for the week ended Sept. 11, compared with the prior week.

In the meantime, President Joe Biden took a more active approach this week in efforts to push forward his $3.5tn social welfare and climate bill. Over the week, Mr. Biden met with Senate leaders to negotiate the passing of the big-ticket spending.

Cryptocurrencies Perform Well

In cryptocurrency action, the week favored major tokens as bitcoin finished higher, following last week’s decline by about 10%. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also logged a win for the week.

Bitcoin peaked above $48,000 a few times but momentum was not strong enough to keep the price above the milestone. Ether made a weekly high of $3,672 on Thursday. Price reversed course later in the week and ended slightly lower.