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Recent Pullback in Commodities Is Likely Tied to Stock Correction

John Murphy

John Murphy

Chief Technical Analyst, StockCharts.com

My January 27 message wrote about a bullish breakout in commodity prices to the highest level in two years. I took that as another sign that inflation pressures were starting to build. The weekly bars in Chart 1 show that bullish breakout taking place in the Bloomberg Commodity Index (circled area). During February, however, commodity prices have sold off enough to call that upside breakout into question. In my view, it probably doesn't. Commodity prices have been rising on signs of a growing global economy which increases demand for raw materials. As a result, commodities and stock prices have been more or less rising together over the past two years. That was especially true since last June when commodity prices turned up (brown arrow). The daily bars in Chart 2 show, however, that the commodity drop during February coincided with a 10% drop in the S&P 500 (blue bars). The 20-day correlation between the two markets jumped to .90 during that selloff. Chart 2 also shows the BCOM bouncing off its 200-day moving average last Friday as did the S&P 500 (red arrow). Both are rising together this week. Economically-sensitive industrial metals are leading the commodity recovery this week (while crude oil lags behind). Gold is also starting to play a leading role in the commodity revival.

 

John Murphy
About the author: is the Chief Technical Analyst at StockCharts.com, a renowned author in the investment field and a former technical analyst for CNBC, and is considered the father of inter-market technical analysis. With over 40 years of market experience, he is the author of numerous popular works including “Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets” and “Trading with Intermarket Analysis”. Before joining StockCharts, John was the technical analyst for CNBC-TV for seven years on the popular show Tech Talk, and has authored three best-selling books on the subject: Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets, Trading with Intermarket Analysis and The Visual Investor. Learn More