Stocks
On the Precipice: Will Global Markets Follow Commodities? [Chart]
On the Precipice [Chart]
Will global markets follow commodities off the cliff?
The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.
From 1970 to 2004, commodities moved the opposite direction of assets like equities and bonds. For example, it was during times such as the 1990s that cheap inputs like oil and metals helped to fuel growth in industries across the globe.
When the oil price spiked, like in instances such as the Iranian Revolution and the subsequent Iran-Iraq War in 1980, the market reacted accordingly. In that particular case, inflation jumped to 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980, a US recession was triggered, and many economic sectors were hit hard.
However, as we see in today’s chart, from 2001-2012 commodities (as measured by the Bloomberg Commodities Index) have more or less kept in line with the S&P 500. This is historically unusual and many analysts expected it would not last. In 2012, commodities diverged in a big way.
Gold and silver were the first to drop off. More recently, it was base metals and oil that fell off the cliff because of slowing growth in China and supply gluts. Today, the Bloomberg Commodity Index and the TSX Venture Composite Index are lower than they have ever been since their inception. The former is down -19.9% from the beginning of 2001. The Venture is down -40.1% since then.
Today may be the end of this trend of divergence. US equities are at a precipice: fueled by low rates and quantitative easing for years, they have finally started to tumble from record highs. Yesterday, the Dow had its largest one-day drop since April 2014 as it slid 350 points. Even tech darlings were down as $49 billion in market capitalization was wiped out, with Apple, Google, Netflix, Facebook, and Twitter all getting crushed in trading yesterday. Market sentiment is decidedly worse than it has ever been in recent years with the tailwinds of Greece, Puerto Rico, China, and other problems.
Making predictions are the dumbest possible idea, but they say that fortune favours the brave.
So here are some bold predictions:
Gold will at least hold its current value, if not see gains in the upcoming six month. US equities do not see sizable gains for awhile. The Fed does not hike rates in September (or if they do, it will be to a lack of fanfare from the markets). Industrial commodities like base metals will continue to drop off a little further as the overall market feels like it has lost momentum and supply gluts remain supreme.
What do you think will happen in the short and medium term?
Economy
Animated Chart: The S&P 500 in 2023 So Far
Track the S&P 500’s performance in 2023, including all 500 companies, and the sectors they belong to, in this animated video.

The S&P 500’s Performance in 2023 Q1
With one quarter of 2023 in the books, how has the S&P 500 performed so far?
The index had a tumultuous 2022, ending the year down 18%, its worst performance since 2008. But so far, despite dealing with tight monetary conditions and an unexpected banking crisis, the S&P 500 has promptly started to rebound.
The above animation from Jan Varsava shows the stock performance of each company on the S&P 500, categorized by sector.
Biggest Gainers on the S&P 500
The S&P 500 increased 7.5% during the first quarter of 2023. Though it was led by a few big outperformers, more than half of the stocks on the index closed above their end-of-December prices.
Here are the top 30 biggest gainers on the index from January 1 to March 31, 2023.
Rank | Company | 3-Month Return |
---|---|---|
1 | Nvidia | 90.1% |
2 | Meta (Facebook) | 76.1% |
3 | Tesla | 68.4% |
4 | Warner Bros. Discovery | 59.3% |
5 | Align Technology | 58.4% |
6 | AMD | 51.3% |
7 | Salesforce | 50.7% |
8 | West Pharmaceuticals | 47.3% |
9 | General Electric | 46.3% |
10 | Catalent | 46.0% |
11 | First Solar | 45.2% |
12 | Monolithic Power Systems | 41.8% |
13 | MarketAxess Holdings | 40.6% |
14 | GE Healthcare Tech | 40.5% |
15 | Arista Networks | 38.3% |
16 | ANSYS Inc. | 37.8% |
17 | Fortinet Inc. | 35.9% |
18 | Wynn Resorts | 35.7% |
19 | Paramount Global | 33.8% |
20 | FedEx Corp | 32.7% |
21 | MGM Resorts | 32.5% |
22 | Royal Caribbean Group | 32.1% |
23 | ON Semiconductor Corp | 32.0% |
24 | Booking Holdings | 31.6% |
25 | Cadence Design Systems | 30.8% |
26 | Skyworks Solutions | 30.2% |
27 | Pulte Group | 28.4% |
28 | Seagate Technology | 27.1% |
29 | Apple | 27.1% |
30 | Lam Research | 26.6% |
Nvidia shares gained the most of all the companies on the S&P 500 in Q1 2023, posting a staggering 90% return over three months.
As the world’s largest chipmaker by market cap, Nvidia gained from both strong earnings and semiconductor industry performance. It also benefited from the rising prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) through software like ChatGPT.
Meanwhile, other tech giants Apple and Microsoft gained 27% and 21% respectively over the same time period.
Tech Leads Returns by Sector
The technology sector as a whole was the best performing sectoral index thanks to these big moves, up 21.7% at the end of March.
Sector | 3-Month Return |
---|---|
Technology | 21.65% |
Consumer Services | 21.27% |
Consumer Discretionary | 16.60% |
Materials | 4.29% |
Industrials | 3.47% |
Real Estate | 1.95% |
Consumer Staples | 0.72% |
Utilities | -3.24% |
Health Care | -4.31% |
Energy | -4.37% |
Financials | -5.56% |
S&P 500 | 7.5% |
Shares of other tech-adjacent companies like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Tesla—listed on the S&P 500 under the categories of communication services and consumer discretionary—also had a strong start to the year and lifted their respective sectors.
Meta in particular is up 76% in Q1 2023, continuing its rebound after falling to an eight-year low in November 2022 on the back of better-than-expected fourth quarter results and share buybacks.
Biggest Losers on the S&P 500
On the other side of the S&P 500, the financial sector was rocked by sudden collapses.
Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Financial Group shares lost the most ground in the first quarter, after both banks collapsed, shedding nearly all of their value in a matter of 30 days.
In fact, seven of the 10 worst performers on the index to start 2023 are banks or financial companies. The visualization shows the ripple effect on the market after the collapse of regional banks in March, and the ensuing rout driving the entire sector down 5.6% year-to-date.
Here are the top 30 biggest losers on the index from January 1 to March 31, 2023.
Rank | Company | 3-Month Return |
---|---|---|
1 | Signature Bank | -99.8% |
2 | Silicon Valley Financial Group | -99.6% |
3 | First Republic Bank | -88.5% |
4 | Lumen Technologies | -49.2% |
5 | Zions Bancorporation | -38.6% |
6 | Charles Schwab Corp | -36.9% |
7 | Comerica Incorporated | -33.9% |
8 | DISH Network | -33.5% |
9 | KeyCorp | -27.3% |
10 | Lincoln National Corp | -25.8% |
11 | Centene Corporation | -22.9% |
12 | Cigna Group | -22.5% |
13 | APA Corporation | -22.3% |
14 | Citizens Financial Group | -22.1% |
15 | Enphase Energy Inc. | -20.6% |
16 | Baxter International Inc. | -19.9% |
17 | Truist Financial Corporation | -19.9% |
18 | American International Group | -19.8% |
19 | CVS Health Corporation | -19.7% |
20 | Pfizer | -19.6% |
21 | Gen Digital | -19.5% |
22 | MetLife | -19.4% |
23 | Huntington Bancshares | -19.4% |
24 | Fidelity National | -19.3% |
25 | Halliburton Company | -19.2% |
26 | Molina Healthcare | -19.0% |
27 | PNC Financial Services | -18.8% |
28 | Boston Properties | -18.4% |
29 | Fifth Third Bancorp | -17.8% |
30 | Allstate Corporation | -17.7% |
Despite the tight monetary landscape, traditionally defensive sectors like energy, consumer staples, and healthcare also underperformed the broader index. This is a reversal from market trends seen in 2022.
Investment Trends to Watch for in 2023
Experts predict a pause in U.S. interest rate hikes “sometime in 2023” but it’s unclear when (or at what level) the pause will take place given persistent inflation in the economy.
However, if interest rates level off in 2023, it could be a key momentum maker for the S&P 500. As Barron’s points out, the index tends to rise after hikes are paused.
Meanwhile, the current tumult in the financial sector is fanning the flames of recessionary fears. How effectively regulators manage the crisis might be the story of the year.
Finally, as we have seen in 2023 so far, investor interest in AI has sent tech stocks soaring. Is this a quick fad, or an overarching trend for the year?
-
Travel4 weeks ago
Visualized: The World’s Busiest Airports, by Passenger Count
-
Visual Capitalist1 week ago
Join Us For Data Creator Con 2023
-
AI4 weeks ago
Visualizing Global Attitudes Towards AI
-
Economy1 week ago
Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve
-
Visual Capitalist3 weeks ago
Calling All Data Storytellers to Enter our Creator Program Challenge
-
Technology1 week ago
Ranked: The World’s Top 25 Websites in 2023
-
Cities3 weeks ago
Ranked: Top 10 Cities Where International Travelers Spend the Most
-
AI1 week ago
Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs