RING - Materials Sector Weekly Round-up: Gold stocks top list; other metals suffer

2023-03-18 14:39:34 ET

The S&P materials sector index was down -3.51% , and the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLB ) -3.42% this week, weighed down by the worst financial crisis in 14 and a half years.

During the week, two U.S. regional banks - Signature Bank ( SBNY ) and SVB Financial's ( SIVB ) Silicon Valley Bank - were taken over by U.S. regulators due to liquidity issues. The bank crisis also reached Europe, with Switzerland's second-biggest bank Credit Suisse ( CS ) revealing "material weaknesses" in its reporting procedures.

Gold shone through the chaos, surging more than 2% Friday to cap the yellow metal's biggest weekly gain in three years as investors flocked to the safe haven.

Front-month Comex gold ( XAUUSD:CUR ) for March delivery closed +2.6% to $1,969.80/oz, its highest since April 2022 and jumping 5.8% for the week in its largest one week percentage gain since the week ending April 9, 2020, while March silver ( XAGUSD:CUR ) ended +3.5% to $22.351/oz, surging 9.7% this week in its best week since August 2020.

This week's top gainers among basic material stocks ($2B market cap or more) were dominated by gold sector stocks:

• Kinross Gold ( KGC ) +11.92%
• Gold Fields ( GFI ) +11.27%
• Newmont ( NEM ) +10.86%
• Osisko gold royalties ( OR ) +10.01%
• AngloGold Ashanti ( AU ) +8.06%

Non-precious metal stocks accounted for the top losers among basic material stocks:

• Steel Dynamics ( STLD ) -10.23%
• Companhia Siderurgica Nacional ( SID ) -10.18%
• Alcoa ( AA ) -9.69%
• Mosaic ( MOS ) -9.47%
• Alpha Metallurgical Resources ( AMR ) -9.43%

Other materials ETFs to watch: 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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