Global Markets Rattled as Shanghai Index Crashes and Grexit Looms
The ongoing Greek crisis and the continued collapse of the Shanghai and Shanzhen Indices (subsequently rebounding Thursday and Friday) dominated news during the week, with commodity prices and mining equities crashing; the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index fell below the 57 mark before recovering slightly at the end of the week. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the Greek crisis and the beleaguered Chinese stock market, the price of gold (traditionally a safe-haven asset) fell during the week, falling as low as $1,155 per ounce before recovering to finish at $1,162 per ounce. Instead, investors appear to have sought refuge in the U.S. bond market, with the U.S. dollar continuing to rise against most other major currencies (softening slightly on Friday). Commodities and mining equities experienced a partial recovery later in the week as Greece submitted a revised proposal to unlock emergency funds, while the Shanghai Index recovered 10% on Thursday and again on Friday following intervention from the Chinese government. Nevertheless, considerable damage to confidence has already been done, with an estimated $3.5 trillion having been vaporized from Shanghai and Shanzhen exchanges. Meanwhile, the benchmark 62% Fe fines price hit an all-time low of $44.10 per tonne on Wednesday, before surging on Thursday by almost 10% to finish at just below $50.00 per tonne.  Copper (↓3%) fell below $2.50 per pound before recovering to finish at $2.54 per pound, while nickel (↓6.6%) plummeted below the $5.00 per pound mark before experiencing a similar rally to finish at $5.09 per pound.  The price of WTI crude fell more than 7.5% to finish at $52.80 per barrel. Finally, The UxC Broker Average Price (BAP) for uranium was down slightly, finishing at $36.25 per pound.