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| This week's gainers and losers |
Up: Valero Energy +12.08% : Shares of the oil refiner rose after California confirmed the company will continue supplying the market using existing inventories and imports as it prepares to idle its Benicia refinery, easing concerns over regional gasoline shortages. SLB (Schlumberger) +12.44% : The oilfield services company jumped after a U.S. military operation in Venezuela boosted optimism about future oil industry prospects in the country. It also won a major contract from Aramco, expanding digital partnerships with Shell. Amazon +9.22% : The e-commerce giant saw gains after the EU signaled a softer regulatory approach in its Digital Networks Act, easing fears of new fees, while the company showcased new AI-powered products and advertising features at CES. Down: Johnson Controls -9.37% : The building systems company struggled after Nvidia’s CEO said upcoming chips would significantly reduce the need for data-center water chillers, challenging a key growth narrative for HVAC suppliers. Roblox -9.49% : The gaming platform was hampered by an overnight outage and a bearish analyst note highlighting slowing user engagement, just as the company launched new ad products at CES. Marvell Technology -6.9% :Shares of the semiconductor company seesawed and ended down after announcing a $540 million acquisition of XConn Technologies, a move into AI data-center switching that drew mixed investor reactions due to execution risks despite long-term potential. |
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| Commodities |
Energy: Crude oil prices ended the week higher. A barrel of Brent North Sea crude traded at around $62.30, while US light crude (WTI) traded at around $58. Broadly speaking, political tensions in Venezuela and Iran are supporting prices, despite the continuing global supply surplus. The situation in Venezuela continues to dominate the news. Following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, the Trump administration announced its intention to take indefinite control of the Venezuelan oil sector. Washington plans to sell up to 50 million barrels of oil currently stored by the national company PDVSA. Major players such as Chevron, Vitol, and Trafigura are competing for these export contracts. Investors are also keeping a close eye on Iran. Protests against economic hardship and reported internet blackouts in several major cities are fueling fears about the stability of the country's production. These geopolitical risks are currently offsetting the bearish signals from market fundamentals, with global supply remaining in surplus. Metals: The price of copper reached a record high of $13,000 per ton on the London Metal Exchange (LME) this week. Tightening supply, US tariffs, and the risk of shortages are contributing to this sharp rise. The surge in copper prices has reignited speculation about a merger between Rio Tinto and Glencore. Discussions are reportedly back on track to form the world's largest mining group, with a combined enterprise value of $263 billion. On the precious metals front, gold stabilized at around $4,470 per ounce after reaching a record high of nearly $4,550 at the end of December. Tensions in Ukraine and the arrest of Nicolas Maduro by the United States are supporting demand for safe-haven assets. Purchases by central banks are also reinforcing this trend. Silver is outperforming, with a weekly increase of around 6%. It is benefiting both from its status as a safe haven and from industrial demand linked to electrification. Agricultural products: Wheat is up in Chicago, at 515 cents per bushel (March 2026 contract). Market fundamentals, marked by abundant global supply, are taking a back seat to geopolitical risks. Recent Russian strikes in Ukraine, which caused massive power outages in the southeast of the country, have reignited concerns about Black Sea supplies. Also in Chicago, corn gained ground to 445 cents, as did soybeans to 1066 cents. |
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| Macroeconomics |
Macro: US employment boosts stock indices. After months of waiting, the US Department of Labor has published the long-awaited figures on non-farm job creation. In December, the US economy created only 50,000 jobs, compared with the 60,000 expected. However, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 points to 4.4%. This was enough to keep the major indices on their upward trajectory, while bond yields remained virtually stable: the 10-year yield remained below the resistance level of 4.20%, with initial support at 4.11%. The dollar remained virtually unchanged and gold stabilized below its recent highs at $4,550 per ounce. Crypto: Bitcoin fell 1% this week and is now hovering around $90,000. The same trend is seen for the second most valuable cryptocurrency on the market: ether (ETH) is down 1.4% and is back close to $3,000. The main announcements of the week concern the stablecoin sector. Bloomberg Intelligence has announced that it anticipates a massive rise in stablecoins, to the point of talking about a possible “tsunami” by the end of the decade. According to its analysts, stablecoin transactions will already reach a record high of $33 trillion in 2025, an 81% increase year-on-year, and could exceed $56 trillion in 2030. At the same time, the sector's capitalization, currently around $312 billion, is expected to grow rapidly, with projections suggesting it could reach $2 trillion by 2028. Long considered a simple gateway to the crypto ecosystem, stablecoins are now becoming one of the major topics of discussion across the entire industry. |
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| Things to read this week | ||||||
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*The weekly movements of indexes and stocks displayed on the dashboard are related to the period ranging from the open on Monday to the sending time of this newsletter on Friday. The weekly movements of commodities, precious metals and currencies displayed on the dashboard are related to a 7-day rolling period from Friday to Friday, until the sending time of this newsletter. These assets continue to quote on weekends. |
