Weekly market recap

In the week ahead, higher rates and the Russia-Ukraine crisis will remain key factors, with bears likely to retain a vantage point short term.

What happened last week in the markets?

• Wall Street recorded another negative week, with all indices down nearly 2% at close on Friday.

• Markets continue to see turbulence amid geopolitical and inflation/higher rates concerns.

• Roku PayPal and Peloton were among major losers this week

• Oil eased lower but help above $90 per barrel, while gold touched an 8-month high as investors fled into safe-haven assets.

• In crypto, Bitcoin fluctuated heavily, breaking above $46,000 before slumping to lows of $38,350 on Sunday.

Global stocks ended the weekly lower, recording losses for a second week in a row. A slight rebound on Wednesday had markets looking to go higher.

However, the sentiment was brutally tempered as investors fled risk-on assets amid heightened tensions around Russia’s possible invasion of Ukraine.

The volatility also got fueled by higher inflation data and uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve’s rate hike plans.

Fed’s minutes from its January meeting indicated that US monetary policymakers were focused on higher interest rates. The first of these hikes is expected in mid-March, with economists and financial analysts routing for a 50 basis point hike.

Stocks weekly performance

Over the week, the S&P 500 fell 1.65%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.9% while the Nasdaq composite ended -1.8%.

Shares in Europe also fell, with the whipsaw highlighted by the threat of war and monetary policy concerns. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed -1.86% lower over the week, while Germany’s DAX ended the week 2.48% down. France’s CAC gave up 1.17% and UK benchmark FTSE 100 slipped 1.92%.

The 10-year US Treasury yield broke above 2% in the week but was around 1.93% at markets close on Friday.

Roku, PayPal among big losers this week

Among major losers in the stock market this week were PayPal, which dumped more than 25% after its earnings report. The growth stock’s value fell 8% this week, while 52-week losses hit over 60%.

Meta Platforms shed over 6% in the week, while shares of Peloton slipped 3% on Friday and were over 12% down over the week. Like other large-cap stocks, PTON shares have fallen sharply since their 52-week high.

On Friday, shares of video streaming firm Roku dumped more than 22% after downbeat revenue forecast.  The stock is down 75% since its 2021 highs. Elsewhere, Intel Corp shares fell 5.3% on Friday.

Procter & Gamble Co. outperformed rivals in the consumer staples sector, notching weekly gains of 2.4%. The company’s stock is up 26.3% in the past year.

Oil, gold, Bitcoin

Oil prices closed the week -2.9% at around $90.37 per barrel. Despite the heavy volatility seen in the week, oil prices were more than 20% up year-to-date.

Gold prices rallied amid the volatility in stocks and other risk-on markets, reaching highs of $1,907per ounce for its highest price level in over 8 months.  

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was down 4% over the past 24 hours on Sunday, with weekly losses of nearly 10% as bulls battled to avoid further rot. Earlier in the day, BTC price touched lows of $38,350 for its lowest price in two weeks.

In altcoins, Ethereum (ETH-USD) dipped to lows of $2,608, about 9% down over the week. Most of the top 20 altcoins were also nursing losses amid a broader downside in the market.