It’s time to reflect on the year that has passed, before starting forecasts for the following year.

The year 2020 will have seen records multiply on markets. After a crash, markets have quickly rebounded, despite the impact of the pandemic on the world economy.

The massive intervention of the central banks supported risk-taking. On June 30, Wall Street posted its best quarter since 1998. At the end of August, the S&P 500  erased all losses since the crash.

Tech giants are more popular than ever, with Apple up 80% since the beginning of the year, Microsoft up by 40%, Amazon by 70% and Google by almost 30 %. Tesla entered the S&P 500, after an increase of more than 700%.

The year 2020 was also an excellent vintage for commodities, except for oil, which sank into negative territory for the US benchmark last April - a first. The drop in the greenback also had something to do with it.

The year has been particularly prolific for base metals, with copper (which has gained 26% since January 1) at the top of the podium, but especially iron ore, with its 65% annual increase. The combination of strong Chinese demand, which is boosting its economy with billions, and a "lagging" mining supply, penalized by insufficient investment and occasional disruptions are causing strong price pressures.

Precious metals also had a good year. A performance that goes against the preconceived idea that a rise in the equity markets is not compatible with a rise in the gold metal. After rising by 18.2% in 2019, it gained 23% this year, while silver is doing twice as well.

On the side of soft commodities, wheat, corn and soybeans have each recorded jumps this year, supported by a good orientation of exports due to robust demand, mainly from Asia. However, we are still far, very far, from the variations recorded on the price of timber, which has literally soared this year, an unsuspected effect linked to the health crisis.

And markets could finish the year on a high since there are rumors that the Brexit agreement is being finalized.

Happy holidays!