During a week of mixed headlines and data releases, markets chose to latch onto strong demand data coming out of China early in the week, with our Materials Price Index (MPI) pushing 1.8% higher. As was the case during the second quarter, gains in the MPI were broad-based, with eight of the index's ten components rising. The MPI is now flat year-to-date (YTD), having totally erased its 28.1% first-quarter fall.
Energy and steel raw materials shared the limelight last week, both increasing 2.2%. Natural gas prices were also a standout, leaping 13.3%, carried higher by