Today's key market insights

US markets

Stocks were up Friday after losing momentum in the middle of the week, causing the Dow to temporarily fall into the red for the year.

• After the rise on Friday, the Dow finished the week down 2.7% but remained up just under 1% for 2023. The S&P 500 lost 0.66% last week while the Nasdaq extended its winning streak to three weeks after gaining 0.55%.

• Netflix surged 8.5% on Friday after a larger-than-expected increase in subscribers, and Alphabet gained 5% after announcing it would lay off 6% of its workforce (12,000 employees).

• The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 3.47960%.

Market	Price	Move
Dow Jones	33,375.49	1.00%
S&P 500	3,972.61	1.89%
Nasdaq	11,140.44	2.66%
Russell 2000	1,867.34	1.69%

 

Canadian markets

Urbanation, a real estate consulting firm, has released a report looking into Toronto’s rental market last year.

• Despite a decline in housing prices in 2022, rent increased by 16.9% in the city, whereas it saw a 0.5% decrease in 2021.

• The increase is mainly due to immigrants and foreign students moving to the city once pandemic-related restrictions were lifted. Rising interest rates led to a decline in first-time homebuyers, which increased the demand for rentals.

• The average monthly rental price for a condo in Toronto was $2,752 at the end of last year, $391 more than in December 2021.

• Rental constructions decreased by 54% in 2022, showing that supply is unlikely to increase in the short term.

Market	Price	Move
TSX	20,503.21	0.80%

 

European markets

European markets were up slightly on Friday after falling on Thursday following a strong start to the week that saw the FTSE hit a new high.

• The Stoxx 600 rose 0.35% on Friday, led by travel stocks, which gained 1.2%.

• For the week, the Stoxx 600 lost 0.3%, with most of those losses coming during a sell-off on Thursday in response to weak corporate earnings and economic data from the U.S.

• Cellnex, a Spanish telecom company, was the best-performing stock in the Stoxx 600 on Friday, gaining 8.9%.

• Close Brothers, a British banking group, was the worst-performing stock, falling 10.3%.

Market	Price	Move
Euro STOXX 50	4,119.90	0.63%
UK (FTSE 100)	7,770.59	0.30%
Germany (DAX)	15,033.56	0.76%
France (CAC 40)	6,995.99	0.63%

 

Asian markets

Stocks In Asia were up on Friday despite Japan’s inflation hitting a 41-year high.

• Singapore’s tourism board said that despite China’s reopening, the number of Chinese tourists visiting the island country is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.

• Stocks in China continue to have positive momentum following the country’s lifting of most Covid restrictions, with the Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite, and Shenzhen Component all rising last week.

• The Nikkei rose on Friday after new data showed that consumer prices rose by 4% in December on an annualized basis, a 41-year high. The index fell on Thursday in response to the Bank of Japan unexpectedly maintaining its monetary policy.

Market	Price	Move
S&P Asia 50	4,984.70	1.35%
Japan (Nikkei 225)	26,553.53	0.56%
South Korea (KOSPI)	2,395.26	0.63%
China (Hang Seng)	22,044.65	1.82%
India (SENSEX)	60,621.77	-0.39%

 

Commodities

Oil prices rose on Friday and have now increased for two consecutive weeks.

• Both Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained just over 1% on the day.

• The positive outlook created by China’s removing Covid restrictions and reopening its economy continues to outweigh concerns over the global economy’s health.

• The U.S. oil rig count is at its lowest since November, which pushed prices up as it suggests a decline in domestic supply.

Market	Price	Move
Oil (NYSEARCA: OIL)	28.10	1.21%
Gold (NYSEARCA: GLD)	173.71	-0.33%
Silver (NYSEARCA: SLV)	21.92	0.27%
Corn (NYSEARCA: CORN)	25.93	0.00%
Lumber (NASDAQ: WOOD)	75.43	0.78%

 

Currency exchange rates

The Yen was down on Friday after weeks of gains as markets re-adjust following the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision on Thursday.

• The Yen gained over 14% against the U.S. Dollar over the past three months amid expectations that the Bank of Japan would tighten its monetary policy.

• The U.S. Dollar has regained nearly 2% against the Yen in the two U.S. trading days since the Bank of Japan decided to continue having ultra-low interest rates.

• The USD still fell against other currencies on Friday and is expected to continue falling in the first half of 2023.

Market	Price	Move
UK(GBP)	£0.81	-0.32%
Europe (EURO)	€0.92	-0.73%
Canada (Canadian Dollar)	$1.34	-0.75%
Japan (Yen)	¥129.56	0.76%

 

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin surged over 10% on Friday before falling after Genesis filed for bankruptcy.

• Genesis lost $1.2B when Three Arrows Capital filed for bankruptcy last summer. The crypto lending firm lost funds and had to freeze withdrawals when customers left exchanges following FTX’s bankruptcy in December.

• Genesis is FTX’s largest unsecured creditor, with $226M in claims.

• In its bankruptcy filing, Genesis claimed that it has over $5.1B in liabilities.

Market	Price	Move
Bitcoin	$22,643.90	9.53%
Ethereum	$1,663.62	7.25%
Litecoin	$90.24	7.14%
Bitcoin Cash	$128.30	8.11%

 

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