Energy stocks lead gains, aluminum prices return to pre-Russian invasion levels

Yahoo Finance’s Ines Ferre joins the Live show to break down how stocks and commodities are moving in early trading.

Video transcript

BRAD SMITH: But first and foremost, as we get into this next topic, let's bring in Ines Ferre with a quick check of the markets. Ines?

INES FERRE: And Brad, as you mentioned, the markets right now are in the green, though we are set to end the week in the red. Let's take a look right now at the sectors, and we're watching industrials and consumer discretionary, which are lagging right now.

But you are seeing energy stocks, those are leading the gains. In fact, if I also pull up a five-day chart, I just want to show you the carnage that we saw with consumer staples, consumer discretionary this week. Energy stocks, though, for the week in the green.

Looking at the NASDAQ 100, let's take a look here. Tesla down more than 2%. Nvidia down 2%. I'm going to pull this in on equal-weight so you can see Ross stores down 22%, having its biggest daily drop since 1986. And if I pull up a five-day chart, you can see the worst performers for the week being those consumer-facing stocks. Ross stores. You've got Dollar Tree, Costco, which are the biggest laggards on the NASDAQ 100.

But take a look on the upper left-hand side of the screen. You've got some of the Chinese ADRs that are set to end the week in the green. Pinduoduo, Baidu, NetEase. In fact, if I pull up the Chinese ADRs chart, this is for a five-week chart, you can see here some of the gains that these stocks are seeing. You've had some easing of lockdowns in Shanghai, also the Chinese banks cutting a key interest rate. So this is having a positive effect on these stocks.

But still, not as much as what they've lost year to date. You can see this year-to-date chart here. So a lot of ground to cover there still. Guys.

- And also you're watching aluminum prices, Ines?

INES FERRE: Yeah, that's right. I've been taking a look at commodities, particularly aluminum, because we are seeing aluminum prices. Remember when prices hit more than $4,000 a ton back in March? Well, they have come back down. And I'm going to pull up a year-to-date chart. You can see where we saw the prices really peak back in March after Russia invaded Ukraine. Well, now they're back at the pre-Ukraine war levels. And they came down here in May around $2,800 a ton. And analysts had been saying that that is a little bit maybe oversold here.

One of the reasons why the prices had been under pressure, you have had lockdowns in China in some aluminum-producing cities. You've also had a strong US dollar. And analysts are saying, expect to see some pressure on prices, a continuation of that in the second quarter of this year. However, long term, there is still a huge demand for metals, for aluminum especially, as the economies around the world go into green economies.

- Ines Ferre, thank you. Appreciate it.